Aurdan Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Aurdan Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 39.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,520 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 15,812 shares during the period. Aurdan Capital Management LLC's holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Medtronic during the fourth quarter worth $1,163,580,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in Medtronic during the fourth quarter worth $377,169,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,445,284 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,233,769,000 after buying an additional 2,333,600 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Medtronic during the fourth quarter worth $174,329,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Medtronic during the fourth quarter worth $139,869,000. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Medtronic from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Medtronic to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.47.

Medtronic Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MDT traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $90.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,258,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,027,364. Medtronic PLC has a 1 year low of $76.68 and a 1 year high of $96.25. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $85.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. This is an increase from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Medtronic's payout ratio is currently 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.