Two medical technology and two financial advisory Dividend Aristocrats announced dividend events this week.  Also, a future Dividend Aristocrat announced their quarterly dividend this week as well.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

Medtronic announced its 37th consecutive annual dividend increase.
Photo courtesy U.S. Embassy Kyiv/flickr.com.

Medtronic (MDT) continued its commitment to return 50% of free cash flow to investors by announcing the company’s 37^th annual dividend increase.  The new annual payout will be $1.22, which translates to a quarterly dividend of 30.5 cents per share, representing a 9.0% increase over the prior quarterly dividend of 28 cents per share.  The new dividend is payable on July 25^th to shareholders of record on July 3^rd.  The increase gives the stock a current yield of 1.91%.  More details on Medtronic’s dividend history are available on the company summary page.

AbbVie Quarterly Dividend

Abbott Laboratories spin-off AbbVie (ABBV) announced their latest quarterly dividend of 42 cents per share.  This is the 7^th quarterly dividend since AbbVie was spun off.  Although the company is only 2 years old, it inherits the dividend growth history of Abbott Laboratories, which means that Standard & Poor’s considers it a Dividend Aristocrat.  The dividend is payable on Aug 15^th to shareholders of record on July 15^th.  With an annualized dividend rate of $1.68, the biopharmaceutical company currently yields 3.15%.

T. Rowe Price and Franklin Resources Quarterly Dividends

Investment managers T. Rowe Price (TROW) and Franklin Resources (BEN) also announced their latest dividend payments.  T. Rowe Price will pay a quarterly dividend of 44 cents per share on September 29^th to shareholders of record on September 15^th.  T. Rowe Price, which has increased its annual dividends for 28 years, currently yields 2.11%.  Franklin Resources will pay a quarterly dividend of 12 cents per share on July 11^th to shareholders of record on June 30^th.  Franklin Resources has increased its dividends for 35 years and currently yields 0.83%.

A Future Dividend Aristocrat Announces Quarterly Payout

Finally, engineering firm Roper Industries (ROP) announced its latest quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share, payable on July 25^th to shareholders of record on July 11^th.  Note that Roper Industries is not a Dividend Aristocrat, but it is a member of the S&P 500 and has increased its annual dividend for 22 years straight.  Aside from not having increased its dividend for 25 consecutive years, Roper Industries meets all the criteria of an S&P Dividend Aristocrat.  So if the company continues to focus on dividend growth, Roper Industries will be added to the list of Dividend Aristocrats in 2017.  The company has more than doubled its annual dividend over the last five years, from 33 cents per share in 2009 to a projected 80 cents per share this year.  The stock currently yields 0.54%.

There are 54 S&P Dividend Aristocrats that have increased dividends for more than a quarter century.  See the full list of Dividend Aristocrats.