KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys 2,900 Shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 489,287 shares of the medical technology company's stock after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Medtronic were worth $44,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 1,368.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,238,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Medtronic by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,140,884 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $91,134,000 after buying an additional 48,749 shares in the last quarter. Twin City Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Medtronic by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Twin City Private Wealth LLC now owns 28,360 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $2,285,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Medtronic by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 680,217 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $54,336,000 after buying an additional 335,430 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MDT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. William Blair upgraded shares of Medtronic to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Medtronic to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Eleven investment 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 company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.19.

Medtronic Price Performance

NYSE:MDT traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $92.35. The company had a trading volume of 6,683,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,777,298. Medtronic PLC has a 52-week low of $78.32 and a 52-week high of $96.25. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $86.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.35. The company has a market capitalization of $118.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. This is an increase from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Medtronic's dividend payout ratio is 78.45%.

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.