Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,306 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Medtronic comprises 1.4% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $3,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter valued at approximately $694,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Medtronic by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 87,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $7,833,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its position in shares of Medtronic by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 73,517 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,873,000 after purchasing an additional 18,057 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 322.6% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,593 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $6,626,000 after purchasing an additional 56,178 shares during the period. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 3rd quarter worth about $9,486,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $792,038.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,273,330.28. This represents a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Medtronic Price Performance

NYSE MDT traded up $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $85.48. The stock had a trading volume of 272,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,678,361. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.74 and a 200-day moving average of $85.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.84. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $92.68. The company has a market capitalization of $109.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.83.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on Medtronic from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

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.