Vicus Capital Grows Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Vicus Capital lifted its position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 22.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,615 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $751,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MDT. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Medtronic by 293.0% in the fourth quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 316,643 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 236,064 shares during the period. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 317.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 367 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in Medtronic by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 460 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total transaction of $71,001.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,684.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.77, for a total value of $1,601,096.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,008,261.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total transaction of $71,001.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,684.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Friday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “sell” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Medtronic from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.71. The stock had a trading volume of 8,917,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,371,193. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $100.93 billion, a PE ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.83. Medtronic plc has a one year low of $68.84 and a one year high of $91.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.52.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The medical technology company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.01. Medtronic had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. This is a boost from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.82%.

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.