Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 30th, there was short interest totaling 22,952,253 shares, a decrease of 83.5% from the October 15th total of 139,004,337 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 12,371,776 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 8th. Mizuho set a $115.00 target price on Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $99.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.88.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 50,000 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $4,750,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 277,866 shares in the company, valued at $26,397,270. The trade was a 15.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Harry Kiil sold 1,483 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.65, for a total transaction of $138,882.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,950,718.90. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 61,903 shares of company stock valued at $5,889,203. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medtronic

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 114,020,787 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $8,919,846,000 after acquiring an additional 838,220 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Medtronic by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 65,987,354 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,741,306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,039 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Medtronic by 5.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,015,003 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,254,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,220 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,948,408 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,203,608,000 after buying an additional 164,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Medtronic in the 1st quarter valued at $965,922,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT traded up $1.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.84. The stock had a trading volume of 5,257,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,182,427. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market cap of $131.54 billion, a PE ratio of 25.33, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.56. Medtronic has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $106.33.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The medical technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.06. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.93% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The firm had revenue of $9.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Medtronic has set its Q2 2027 guidance at 1.320-1.340 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 5.940-6.000 EPS. Research analysts predict that Medtronic will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 16th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 25th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.94%.

About Medtronic

Medtronic plc is a medical technology company that develops and manufactures devices and therapies for a range of health conditions. Its products include pacemakers and defibrillators, heart valves, surgical technologies, neurostimulation devices, and insulin pumps and other diabetes-management products. The company was founded in Minneapolis in 1949 by Earl Bakken and Palmer Hermundslie as a medical equipment repair business. It has since grown into a global company serving patients and health care providers in more than 150 countries.