Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $648,000 Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. cut its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,237 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 393 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in Medtronic in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Medtronic in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 460 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on MDT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Medtronic in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Medtronic from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Medtronic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.92.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of Medtronic stock opened at $89.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $68.84 and a 1-year high of $91.49.

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 return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Medtronic’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.82%.

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.