Investors Buy High Volume of Medtronic Put Options (NYSE:MDT)

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 16,927 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 12,518 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDT has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup upgraded Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.14.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MDT opened at $84.52 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Medtronic has a 12 month low of $75.96 and a 12 month high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.81 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Medtronic will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medtronic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Westbourne Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,915,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Medtronic by 69.7% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 194,771 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $17,502,000 after buying an additional 79,970 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Medtronic by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 211,536 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $19,009,000 after buying an additional 12,533 shares in the last quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,107,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% 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.