NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lowered its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 105,312 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 11,348 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Medtronic were worth $9,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MDT. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 39,718 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $3,173,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $3,194,000 after acquiring an additional 37,265 shares in the last quarter. Oxford Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 70.1% in the fourth quarter. Oxford Asset Management LLP now owns 7,442 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares during the period. New Vernon Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 304.9% in the fourth quarter. New Vernon Investment Management LLC now owns 29,613 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 22,300 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor OS LLC increased its holdings in Medtronic by 152.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 11,800 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 7,118 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Medtronic from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Medtronic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Medtronic has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.00.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of MDT stock traded down $1.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $87.19. The stock had a trading volume of 6,008,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,874,071. The stock's 50 day moving average is $84.10 and its 200 day moving average is $86.25. Medtronic plc has a twelve month low of $75.96 and a twelve month high of $96.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $111.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This is a boost from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Medtronic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.