Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. Makes New $337,000 Investment in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,218 shares of the medical technology company's stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MDT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,163,580,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the fourth quarter worth about $852,732,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the fourth quarter worth about $377,169,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Medtronic by 2,043.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,598,150 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $207,540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,476,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Medtronic by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,445,284 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,233,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,333,600 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Medtronic Price Performance

NYSE MDT traded up $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,514,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,817,858. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a P/E/G 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $84.64 and a 200 day moving average of $86.31. Medtronic plc has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm 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 revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This is a boost from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. Medtronic's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on Medtronic from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Medtronic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup raised Medtronic from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $96.07.

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.