Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Buys 194,010 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,805,409 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 194,010 shares during the quarter. Medtronic comprises 1.3% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned about 0.22% of Medtronic worth $224,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Medtronic by 1.2% in the third quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 9,558 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $861,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Medtronic by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,131 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank increased its position in shares of Medtronic by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6,417 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,123 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hardy Reed LLC lifted its position in Medtronic by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 2,743 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Medtronic from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Medtronic currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.00.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of MDT stock opened at $88.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.64 and a 200 day moving average of $85.29. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $75.96 and a 52 week high of $92.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.63%.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,273,330.28. This trade represents a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.