Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 15.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,629,021 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 3,065,673 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.30% of Medtronic worth $1,496,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MDT. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Medtronic by 1.2% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 66,738 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $6,008,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 449.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 73,373 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $6,606,000 after buying an additional 60,016 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 212.9% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 126,314 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $11,372,000 after buying an additional 85,947 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Medtronic by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 181,843 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $15,677,000 after acquiring an additional 11,651 shares during the period. Finally, Boyar Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Medtronic by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,213 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medtronic Price Performance

NYSE MDT traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $82.48. The stock had a trading volume of 4,285,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,239,269. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.99. The company has a market cap of $105.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.82. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $92.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Medtronic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Medtronic to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Medtronic from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.27.

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.