5 Best Dividend Champions to Buy Now

4. Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 65
Dividend Yield: 1.97%
Consecutive Years of Dividend Growth: 44

Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) is a healthcare company developing device-based medical therapies for hospitals, physicians, clinicians, and patients across the globe. The company ranks 4th on our list of the best dividend champions to buy now.

This June, Medtronic plc’s (NYSE: MDT) price target was raised from $135 to $15o at Argus, with the firm keeping a Buy rating on the shares. Analyst David Toung is reportedly optimistic on the company’s potential to reinvest operating cash flow in product launches and development while profiting off of its robust market position in the Minimally Invasive Therapies market.

In the fiscal fourth quarter of 2021, Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) had an EPS of $1.50, beating estimates by $0.08. The company’s revenue was $8.19 billion, up 36.51% year over year and beating estimates by $59.18 million. Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) has a gross profit margin of 65.62% and has gained 9.28% in the past 6 months and 10.47% year to date.

By the end of the first quarter of 2021, 65 hedge funds out of the 866 tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT). The total value of their stakes was roughly $3.62 billion. This is compared to 59 hedge funds in the previous quarter with a total stake value of approximately $2.81 billion.