Capital Investment Counsel Inc Buys Shares of 2,554 Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,554 shares of the medical technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,163,580,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Medtronic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $852,732,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth $377,169,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Medtronic by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,445,284 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,233,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Medtronic in the fourth quarter valued at about $174,329,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Medtronic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Leerink Partners started coverage on Medtronic in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Medtronic from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Medtronic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.87.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MDT opened at $88.42 on Thursday. Medtronic PLC has a 1 year low of $75.96 and a 1 year high of $96.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.44.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.81 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.54% and a net margin of 13.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Medtronic PLC will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This is a boost from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Medtronic’s payout ratio is presently 78.45%.

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.