Merit Financial Group LLC Has $3.73 Million Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 78.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,474 shares of the medical technology company's stock after buying an additional 18,204 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Medtronic were worth $3,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Paladin Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Medtronic by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC now owns 11,015 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Medtronic by 26.9% in the first quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 9,467 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,007 shares in the last quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc acquired a new position in Medtronic in the first quarter worth $213,000. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in Medtronic by 3.3% in the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 449,100 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $40,356,000 after purchasing an additional 14,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Medtronic by 24.8% in the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 24,599 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 4,892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Medtronic from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Medtronic from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup raised Medtronic from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.00.

Medtronic Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE MDT traded up $1.32 during trading on Thursday, reaching $86.92. 10,349,007 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,860,677. The firm has a market cap of $111.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $84.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Medtronic plc has a fifty-two week low of $75.96 and a fifty-two week high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.81 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. 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 is 78.45%.

Medtronic Company 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.