Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Decreases Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC cut its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 23.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,512 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 17,005 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Medtronic were worth $5,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,762 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 17,339 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,881,000. Finally, Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 136,737 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $12,287,000 after purchasing an additional 8,074 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MDT. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Medtronic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Medtronic from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.00.

Medtronic Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Medtronic stock traded up $0.41 on Thursday, hitting $88.47. The stock had a trading volume of 5,854,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,872,960. The stock has a market cap of $113.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.79. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $84.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.25. Medtronic plc has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $96.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.81 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This is a boost from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Medtronic's payout ratio is 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.