Donoghue Forlines LLC Reduces Holdings in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Key Points

• Donoghue Forlines LLC reduced its stake in Medtronic PLC by 15.5%, holding 15,905 shares valued at approximately $1.43 million after selling 2,923 shares.
• Medtronic reported earnings of $1.62 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a revenue of $8.93 billion, marking a 3.9% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.71 per share, reflecting a 3.1% dividend yield with an annualized payout of $2.84.

Donoghue Forlines LLC cut its holdings in shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 15.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,905 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 2,923 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC's holdings in Medtronic were worth $1,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 1,368.0% during 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. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,104,985 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $168,146,000 after purchasing an additional 265,416 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,414 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 86.4% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 16,344 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 7,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 5,014 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on MDT shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Medtronic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Medtronic from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped 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. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.19.

Medtronic Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of MDT stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $92.80. The company had a trading volume of 6,563,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,643,395. The company's fifty day moving average is $88.65 and its 200 day moving average is $87.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Medtronic PLC has a fifty-two week low of $79.29 and a fifty-two week high of $96.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.95 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.80.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 14.54%. The firm 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 firm earned $1.46 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Medtronic PLC will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. 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.