Associated Banc Corp Purchases 9,244 Shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Key Points

• Associated Banc Corp increased its holdings in Medtronic PLC by 5.4% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 9,244 shares, bringing its total ownership to 180,182 shares valued at approximately $16.2 million.
• Medtronic recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.62, beating analysts' estimates of $1.58, with an 8.6% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.71 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.84 and a yield of 3.2%.

Associated Banc Corp grew its position in shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,182 shares of the medical technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,244 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp's holdings in Medtronic were worth $16,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 185.0% in the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 285 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Columbia River Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MDT. Citigroup boosted their target price on Medtronic from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. William Blair raised Medtronic to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Medtronic from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Medtronic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Medtronic in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.19.

Medtronic Stock Up 2.1%

MDT traded up $1.87 during trading on Thursday, hitting $91.23. 7,685,043 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,912,314. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $88.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Medtronic PLC has a 12-month low of $79.29 and a 12-month high of $96.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.80.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.54% and a net margin of 13.90%. The business had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The company's revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Medtronic PLC will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Medtronic's payout ratio is currently 78.45%.

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.