Nelson Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Nelson Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,997 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 5,687 shares during the period. Nelson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Medtronic by 9.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 23,777,808 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,863,229,000 after buying an additional 1,994,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Medtronic by 2.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,392,467 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,597,954,000 after acquiring an additional 508,205 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 127,655.1% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,160,371 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,100,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,149,287 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth about $1,062,316,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Medtronic by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,622,933 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,067,493,000 after purchasing an additional 285,819 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MDT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Medtronic from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Medtronic from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Medtronic from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total value of $71,001.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,684.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Medtronic news, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total value of $71,001.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,684.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Salmon sold 30,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.13, for a total transaction of $2,613,065.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,110,842.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Medtronic Trading Down 1.8 %

MDT traded down $1.47 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.33. 6,185,448 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,298,845. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.96. The firm has a market cap of $109.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.76. Medtronic plc has a 1 year low of $68.84 and a 1 year high of $92.02.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.04. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The company had revenue of $8.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 21st. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.90%.

About Medtronic

Medtronic plc develops, manufactures, and sells device-based medical therapies to healthcare systems, physicians, clinicians, and patients worldwide. Its Cardiovascular Portfolio segment offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices; cardiac ablation products; insertable cardiac monitor systems; TYRX products; and remote monitoring and patient-centered software.