Teacher Retirement System of Texas Trims Stake in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) by 60.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 533,525 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 815,216 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Medtronic were worth $47,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 124,203,387 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $9,921,367,000 after buying an additional 754,395 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,203,685 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,652,310,000 after buying an additional 571,700 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,056,217 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,155,085,000 after buying an additional 574,055 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Medtronic by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 18,443,640 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,473,278,000 after purchasing an additional 372,168 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Medtronic by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,445,284 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,233,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,333,600 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MDT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Medtronic from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Medtronic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Medtronic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Medtronic from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.87.

Medtronic Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MDT opened at $88.42 on Thursday. Medtronic PLC has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $96.25. 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 company has a market capitalization of $113.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $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. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.54% and a net margin of 13.90%. The company had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Medtronic PLC will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This is a boost from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.