Medtronic raises dividend by 7%, sets new $5 billion stock repurchase program

Medtronic PLC said Friday it will raise its quarterly dividend by 7% to 46 cents a share from 43 cents a share. The new dividend will be payable July 26 to shareholders of record on July 7. The medical technology company also said it was authorizing the buyback of up to $5 billion worth of common stock, with no specific time period. The new authorization replaces the previous one set in 2015. Based on Thursday's stock closing price of $89.09, the new annual dividend rate of $1.84 implies a dividend yield of 2.07%, compared with the implied aggregate S&P 500 yield of 1.99%, according to FactSet. And $5 billion could buy back 56.1 million shares, or about 4.1% of the shares outstanding. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has rallied 25.1% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.7%.Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.