Balefire LLC Acquires 9,266 Shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Balefire LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 903.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,292 shares of the medical technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,266 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC's holdings in Medtronic were worth $925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Medtronic in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,163,580,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 4th quarter valued at about $852,732,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $377,169,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,445,284 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $1,233,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333,600 shares during the period. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Medtronic during the 4th quarter worth approximately $174,329,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MDT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Medtronic from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Friday, June 6th. Citigroup raised shares of Medtronic from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Medtronic in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.87.

Medtronic Stock Up 0.5%

MDT stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $86.41. The company had a trading volume of 10,821,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,959,053. The company has a market capitalization of $110.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.79. Medtronic PLC has a 52 week low of $75.96 and a 52 week high of $96.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.81 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.54% and a net margin of 13.90%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Medtronic PLC will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Medtronic's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Medtronic 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.