Dividend Aristocrat Medtronic (MDT) will raise its quarterly dividend by 7.4 percent to $0.58 per share in 2020. Last year the dividend was hiked by 8.0 percent to 54 cents per share quarterly. Today's announcement marks the 43rd consecutive year of an increase in the dividend payment for Dividend Aristocrat Medtronic.

The next dividend is payable on July 17, 2020, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 26, 2020. A new annual rate of $2.32 per share yields 2.4% at Thursday's closing price of $95.41.

Geoff Martha, Medtronic chief executive officer, commented on the dividend hike in the company's press release announcing fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020 results: “Our financial position remains strong, and we’re differentially using our balance sheet during the pandemic. Today, we announced a significant increase in our dividend, and we are purposely investing to drive not only a strong recovery, but also consistent, long-term growth,” said Martha. “As we emerge, the investments that we’ve made will be evident in our attraction and retention of top talent, and in the new, innovative products and solutions that we’ll offer physicians, patients, and healthcare systems.”

Medtronic is one of the Dividend Aristocrats included in the Standard & Poor's index of the same name. The company has been raising dividends for 43 years in a row, with no dividend increase of less than 7% in recent years. Medtronic's average dividend increase over the last ten years is more than 10%. In the last four years, the dividend has increased by 7 to 9% each time. Medtronic, which has been paying dividends since at least 1977, currently pays approximately $ 2.4 billion in annual dividends to its 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.