Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Purchases 9,204 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,329 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,204 shares during the quarter. Medtronic accounts for about 1.3% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $17,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,590,041 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $124,596,000 after buying an additional 87,412 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 45.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 4,626 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 1,454 shares during the period. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $108,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 90,458 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $7,088,000 after buying an additional 9,202 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Medtronic by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,988 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Medtronic in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “sell” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Medtronic from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Medtronic from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total value of $71,001.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,684.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total transaction of $71,001.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,684.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.77, for a total value of $1,601,096.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,008,261.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $79.00. 4,430,133 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,283,537. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.03. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $68.84 and a 52 week high of $91.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.53.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The medical technology company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.01. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 11.36%. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This is a positive change from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.36%.

Medtronic 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.