Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) shares gained slightly today on Wall Street after the medical device company said it authorized a 28¢ quarterly dividend and an 80 million-share repurchasing program.
MDT shares were trading at $51.96 apiece as of about 11:30 a.m. today, up 1.5%.
The Fridley, Minn.-based company, the world’s largest pure-play device maker, said the dividend represents an 8% increase and would be $1.12 annually. It’s the 36th consecutive year of increased dividend payments for Medtronic, according to a press release.
The 80 million shares authorized in the stock buyback would be about 7.8% of Medtronic’s roughly 1.02 billion shares. The company has repurchased roughly $5.6 billion worth of its own stock, about 142 million shares, in the last 5 years, according to the release.
"Today’s actions reflect the confidence that the board of directors and management team have in Medtronic’s ability to generate significant free cash flow and create long-term shareholder value," chairman & CEO Omar Ishrak said in prepared remarks. "As part of our disciplined capital allocation program, we remain committed to returning 50% of our free cash flow to shareholders each year through dividends and share repurchases, which still gives us ample flexibility to make necessary investments for sustainable growth."
