Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Shares Down 0.5% – Time to Sell?

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)’s stock price traded down 0.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $90.29 and last traded at $91.42. 2,181,214 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 6,042,669 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.07.

Medtronic Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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

Medtronic Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.11%.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,688,110. This trade represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medtronic

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Medtronic by 753.8% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 333 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Medtronic Company Profile

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.