Dividend Aristocrat Medtronic (MDT) will raise its quarterly dividend by 8.0 percent to $0.54 per share in 2019. Last year the dividend was hiked by 8.7 percent to 50 cents per share quarterly. Today's announcement marks the 42nd consecutive year of an increase in the dividend payment for Dividend Aristocrat Medtronic.

The next dividend is payable on July 25, 2019, to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 8, 2019. A new annual rate of $2.16 per share yields 2.2% at Thursday's closing price of $99.26.

"Medtronic's strong and growing dividend is an important component of the total return we expect to deliver to our shareholders," said Omar Ishrak, Medtronic chairman and chief executive officer. "Our board and management team have great confidence in Medtronic's ability to generate significant cash flow, and we expect to balance the deployment of this capital through both disciplined investments to drive future growth and returning cash to shareholders."

Medtronic plc, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a medical technology, services, and solutions company.  The company has four operating segments that primarily develop, manufacture, distribute, and sell device-based medical therapies and services: Cardiac and Vascular Group, Minimally Invasive Therapies Group, Restorative Therapies Group and Diabetes Group. The company's primary customers include hospitals, clinics, third-party health care providers, distributors, and other institutions, including governmental health care programs and group purchasing organizations (GPOs). Medtronic was founded in 1949 and has paid a dividend every year since 1977.