Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Trading Down 1% – Should You Sell?

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) shares traded down 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $91.25 and last traded at $91.31. 2,783,527 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 6,023,485 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Medtronic currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.07.

Medtronic Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $117.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.89, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. The firm had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.33 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,119,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,688,110. The trade was a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 124,203,387 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $9,921,367,000 after purchasing an additional 754,395 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,731,367 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,509,155,000 after buying an additional 520,027 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,203,685 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,652,310,000 after acquiring an additional 571,700 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,056,217 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,155,085,000 after acquiring an additional 574,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 18,443,640 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,473,278,000 after acquiring an additional 372,168 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.