Medtronic Board Increases Cash Dividend by 8% to $0.2425; Increases Share Repurchase Plan by 75M Shares

The board of directors of Medtronic, Inc. MDT today approved an eight percent increase in its cash dividend for fiscal year 2012, raising the quarterly amount to 24.25 cents per share of the company's common stock for an annual amount of 97 cents per share. Medtronic's dividend has more than doubled over the past five years, and today's announcement marks the company's 34th consecutive year of increased dividend payments. In addition, the board approved an increase in its Share Repurchase Plan, authorizing Medtronic to purchase an additional 75 million shares of its common stock, which represents approximately seven percent of the company's total basic shares of common stock outstanding. Over the past six years, the company has repurchased more than $9 billion dollars of common stock, or 195 million shares.