Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Boosts Holdings in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,981 shares of the medical technology company's stock after buying an additional 4,086 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Medtronic were worth $8,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Medtronic by 185.0% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 285 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Columbia River Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Medtronic during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MDT shares. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Medtronic to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. William Blair upgraded shares of Medtronic to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Medtronic from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.19.

Medtronic Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of MDT traded down $0.12 on Thursday, reaching $91.89. 2,002,102 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,741,931. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.35. Medtronic PLC has a 12 month low of $78.32 and a 12 month high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 14.54%. The company had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Medtronic PLC will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Medtronic's 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.