Avanza Fonder AB Buys Shares of 122,448 Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 122,448 shares of the medical technology company's stock, valued at approximately $10,881,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MDT. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 1,368.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $3,194,000 after buying an additional 37,265 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth $78,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 105,822 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $8,453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 146.3% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 47,940 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $3,817,000 after purchasing an additional 28,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in Medtronic by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 103,281 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $8,250,000 after buying an additional 5,942 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Medtronic from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Medtronic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Medtronic from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.00.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of MDT stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $88.01. 4,643,169 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,871,732. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $112.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.79. Medtronic plc has a fifty-two week low of $75.96 and a fifty-two week high of $96.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $83.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.22.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The firm had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Medtronic's payout ratio is presently 78.45%.

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.