Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Stock Price Down 1.2% – Time to Sell?

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) dropped 1.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $86.82 and last traded at $86.94. Approximately 1,154,637 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 6,186,816 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MDT. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Daiwa America raised Medtronic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.36.

Medtronic Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.59 and its 200-day moving average is $84.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.90 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.06% and a return on equity of 13.68%. Medtronic’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Medtronic by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,884,412 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,691,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044,109 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 3.3% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,582,993 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $772,727,000 after buying an additional 275,870 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 436.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,343,385 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $661,125,000 after buying an additional 5,975,110 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Medtronic by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,120,554 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $560,494,000 after acquiring an additional 515,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longview Partners Guernsey LTD boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD now owns 6,635,054 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $578,245,000 after acquiring an additional 147,737 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.