Hennessy Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 9.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 62,100 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,400 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $5,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Medtronic by 11.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 531,059 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $47,721,000 after acquiring an additional 53,340 shares during the period. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Medtronic by 20.1% in the first quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Medtronic in the first quarter valued at $287,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Medtronic by 6.9% in the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 10,910 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Powers Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Medtronic by 8.0% in the first quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,891 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Price Performance

MDT stock opened at $87.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.21 and a 200-day moving average of $86.26. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $96.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $111.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.79.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The company had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders 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 3.26%. This is a boost from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Mizuho reduced their target price on Medtronic from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Medtronic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Medtronic currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.00.

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.