Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 0.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 45,787 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 418 shares during the period. Medtronic accounts for approximately 1.6% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $4,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,778 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Medtronic by 9.7% during the third quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 11,305 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 1.2% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 17,062 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,536,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Leisure Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 6.8% in the third quarter. Leisure Capital Management now owns 12,800 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. Finally, Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter worth about $214,000. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medtronic Price Performance

Medtronic stock opened at $89.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.39 billion, a PE ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.84. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $68.84 and a 12-month high of $91.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.52.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Daiwa America raised Medtronic to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Medtronic from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.36.

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.