Lazard Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Medtronic PLC $MDT

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) by 8.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,044,193 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 377,068 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.39% of Medtronic worth $439,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 126,909,406 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $11,062,693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895,165 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,227,006 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,448,699,000 after purchasing an additional 310,684 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 2.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,275,850 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,854,616,000 after buying an additional 595,549 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 3.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,647,149 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,538,302,000 after buying an additional 666,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the second quarter worth $1,432,698,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MDT shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Medtronic from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Medtronic from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $101.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Medtronic currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.44.

Medtronic Trading Up 0.1%

Medtronic stock opened at $99.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $97.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.80. Medtronic PLC has a 52-week low of $79.29 and a 52-week high of $106.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.05. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.86% and a net margin of 13.71%.The business had revenue of $8.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Medtronic has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.620-5.660 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Medtronic PLC will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Medtronic’s payout ratio is currently 76.55%.

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.