Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Reduces Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lessened its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,350 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 2,370 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $1,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 46,698 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $3,676,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC raised its position in Medtronic by 24.3% during the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. raised its position in Medtronic by 6.5% during the second quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 8,053 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the period. Saxon Interests Inc. raised its position in Medtronic by 2.7% during the second quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 10,183 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $802,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Medtronic by 4.0% during the second quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,539 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Medtronic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $100.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Medtronic news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.77, for a total transaction of $1,601,096.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,008,261.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Medtronic Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MDT traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $84.60. The stock had a trading volume of 5,374,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,239,440. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $108.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $80.00 and its 200 day moving average is $82.34. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $68.84 and a 52-week high of $89.18.

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

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.