Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Position in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Medtronic PLC by 12.7%, owning 146,432 shares worth approximately $13.16 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Medtronic recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, up from $0.70, with an annual yield of 3.06%.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Medtronic, with an average target price of $98.19 and mixed opinions from various research firms.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 146,432 shares of the medical technology company's stock after buying an additional 16,535 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Medtronic were worth $13,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 valued at $3,194,000 after purchasing an additional 37,265 shares in the last quarter. Oxford Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in Medtronic by 70.1% in the fourth quarter. Oxford Asset Management LLP now owns 7,442 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068 shares during the last quarter. New Vernon Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Medtronic by 304.9% in the fourth quarter. New Vernon Investment Management LLC now owns 29,613 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $2,425,000 after acquiring an additional 22,300 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC boosted its position in shares of Medtronic by 84.2% during the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 27,456 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 12,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Medtronic by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 56,020 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $4,475,000 after purchasing an additional 6,721 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company's stock.

Medtronic Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE MDT traded up $0.59 on Friday, hitting $92.91. 5,264,531 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,082,213. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.80. Medtronic PLC has a 52-week low of $78.32 and a 52-week high of $96.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $87.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.56.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.81 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 14.54%. The business's revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Medtronic PLC will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This is an increase from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Medtronic's payout ratio is currently 78.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MDT shares. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Medtronic to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $107.00 price target (up previously from $98.00) on shares of Medtronic in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. William Blair upgraded shares of Medtronic to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Medtronic from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.19.

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.