Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Sells 506 Shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) by 1.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,800 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 506 shares during the quarter. Medtronic accounts for about 1.7% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $4,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Medtronic by 185.0% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 285 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 753.8% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 333 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in Medtronic in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Medtronic stock opened at $86.05 on Thursday. Medtronic PLC has a fifty-two week low of $75.96 and a fifty-two week high of $96.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market cap of $110.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.77, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Medtronic from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price target on Medtronic from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Medtronic from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Medtronic to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.87.

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.