Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 2,343 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,869 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 2,343 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP bought a new stake in Medtronic during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Medtronic during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MDT. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Medtronic from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $792,038.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,273,330.28. The trade was a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Medtronic Trading Up 4.1 %

MDT opened at $85.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.01. The company has a market capitalization of $109.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.83. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $75.96 and a 52 week high of $92.68.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.63%.

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.