Brookstone Capital Management Increases Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT – Get Rating) by 56.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 59,036 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,311 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $4,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Medtronic by 5.1% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 115,998,561 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $9,366,883,000 after buying an additional 5,620,477 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 33.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,374,686 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,564,508,000 after acquiring an additional 4,816,172 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Medtronic by 322.3% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,554,073 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $286,991,000 after purchasing an additional 2,712,530 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new position in Medtronic during the third quarter valued at $198,877,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the second quarter valued at $212,918,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Plc Medtronic acquired 6,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.28 per share, for a total transaction of $63,428.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,999,423 shares in the company, valued at $46,394,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered Medtronic from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Citigroup downgraded shares of Medtronic from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $108.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Medtronic from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.72.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $78.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $75.76 and a 52 week high of $114.31.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.20% and a return on equity of 13.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 23rd. Medtronic’s payout ratio is currently 89.47%.

Medtronic Profile

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Medtronic Plc is a medical technology company, which engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of device-based medical therapies and services. It operates through the following segments: Cardiovascular Porrtfolio, Neuroscience Portfolio, Medical Surgical Portfolio, and Diabetes Operating Unit.