Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,255 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 14,286 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in Medtronic were worth $10,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 753.8% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 333 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of Medtronic by 145.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 344 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Medtronic from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Medtronic from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Medtronic has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $96.07.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of MDT stock traded down $0.21 on Friday, reaching $80.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,565,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,819,480. The company has a market capitalization of $103.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $85.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Medtronic plc has a 1 year low of $75.96 and a 1 year high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The business had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This is an increase from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. Medtronic's dividend payout ratio is 85.11%.

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.