Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.19.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MDT. Citigroup raised their target price on Medtronic from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Friday, July 11th. William Blair raised Medtronic to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wolfe Research raised Medtronic from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Medtronic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medtronic

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 1,368.0% in the 4th 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. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10,812 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 19,836 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407 shares in the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Finally, Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 2,989 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medtronic Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:MDT opened at $89.74 on Thursday. Medtronic has a 12-month low of $77.94 and a 12-month high of $96.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.99.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.54% and a net margin of 13.90%. The company had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Medtronic 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This is an increase from Medtronic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Medtronic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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