LVW Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

LVW Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 24.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,599 shares of the medical technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,892 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC's holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its position in Medtronic by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 6,408 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC raised its position in Medtronic by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 5,043 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC raised its position in Medtronic by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 51,375 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $4,104,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its position in Medtronic by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 2,989 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT raised its position in Medtronic by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 54,456 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $4,350,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MDT traded up $1.55 during trading on Thursday, reaching $87.15. The company had a trading volume of 3,836,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,837,232. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $84.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.16. Medtronic plc has a fifty-two week low of $75.96 and a fifty-two week high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last released 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. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. The business had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Medtronic's payout ratio is presently 78.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MDT. Wall Street Zen lowered Medtronic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup upgraded Medtronic from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Medtronic presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.00.

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.