Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 20,701 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 3.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 568,985 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,701 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $51,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in Medtronic during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 460 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MDT. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Daiwa America raised shares of Medtronic to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Medtronic from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.21.

Medtronic Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE MDT traded up $0.49 on Friday, hitting $88.26. 3,598,594 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,355,535. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $68.84 and a 52-week high of $91.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $86.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.29.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.06% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $7.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 101.82%.

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.