Proficio Capital Partners LLC Decreases Position in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 98.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,794 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 161,599 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Medtronic were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Medtronic by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,203,685 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $2,652,310,000 after purchasing an additional 571,700 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Medtronic by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,056,217 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $2,155,085,000 after purchasing an additional 574,055 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Medtronic by 7.0% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 22,278,023 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $2,001,903,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,841 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 3.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,680,301 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,858,332,000 after buying an additional 756,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 18,443,640 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,473,278,000 after buying an additional 372,168 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Medtronic Stock Performance

MDT traded up $0.34 on Thursday, hitting $92.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,683,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,303,850. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $86.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.44. The firm has a market cap of $118.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.80. Medtronic PLC has a 12 month low of $78.32 and a 12 month high of $96.25. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a 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 (DPR) is presently 78.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MDT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Medtronic to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Medtronic in a report on Monday, June 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $107.00 price target (up from $98.00) on shares of Medtronic in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.19.

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.