Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 116,310 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 32.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 477,719 shares of the medical technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 116,310 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Medtronic were worth $38,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MDT. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position 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 worth $3,194,000 after purchasing an additional 37,265 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 8,421 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth $240,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Medtronic by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Medtronic during the fourth quarter worth $210,000. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday, May 19th. 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.00.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of MDT stock traded up $1.84 on Tuesday, hitting $85.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,977,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,836,509. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock's 50 day moving average is $84.04 and its 200-day moving average is $86.16. Medtronic plc has a fifty-two week low of $75.96 and a fifty-two week high of $96.25. The company has a market capitalization of $109.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.81.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The business had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Medtronic's revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 78.45%.

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.