Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,427 Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,427 shares of the medical technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HTLF Bank acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 4th quarter worth about $5,213,000. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,202 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 3,546 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 174,712 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $14,393,000 after acquiring an additional 10,461 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services bought a new position in Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,227,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Medtronic by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 123,018 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $10,135,000 after purchasing an additional 9,245 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medtronic Stock Performance

MDT traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.50. The stock had a trading volume of 6,756,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,961,242. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.76. Medtronic plc has a twelve month low of $68.84 and a twelve month high of $92.02. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.01.

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

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 22nd were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 21st. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note 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 note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Medtronic from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.91.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

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

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.