Headlands Technologies LLC Takes $1.53 Million Position in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Medtronic PLC, purchasing 17,031 shares valued at approximately $1.53 million.
• Analysts have provided a generally positive outlook on Medtronic, with 10 analysts rating it a "buy" and an average target price of $98.19.
• Medtronic recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.71, representing an annualized yield of 3.1%.

Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,031 shares of the medical technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,530,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Medtronic by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 125,014,241 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $11,233,780,000 after buying an additional 810,854 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Medtronic by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,203,685 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $2,652,310,000 after buying an additional 571,700 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Medtronic by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 22,278,023 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $2,001,903,000 after buying an additional 1,461,841 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Medtronic by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,680,301 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $1,858,332,000 after buying an additional 756,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Medtronic by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 19,009,795 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $1,708,220,000 after buying an additional 566,155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company's stock.

Medtronic Stock Performance

NYSE MDT traded down $1.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $91.65. 2,007,907 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,621,769. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.80. 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 PLC has a fifty-two week low of $79.29 and a fifty-two week high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm'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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 3.1%. Medtronic's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Medtronic in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Medtronic from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $107.00 price target (up from $98.00) on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on Medtronic from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Medtronic to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.19.

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.