Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Invests $228,000 in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,701 shares of the medical technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 185.0% during the 1st 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. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Columbia River Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the first quarter worth $32,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of MDT stock opened at $89.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $114.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.06. Medtronic PLC has a 1-year low of $78.32 and a 1-year high of $96.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.81 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.54% and a net margin of 13.90%. Medtronic’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Medtronic PLC will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This is an increase from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Medtronic’s payout ratio is presently 78.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MDT. Mizuho increased their price objective on Medtronic from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Friday, June 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.19.

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.