Topic: How To Invest

Q: What are your thoughts on the long-term prospects of Medtronics plc, a maker of medical devices including ventilators? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: Medtronic plc, $100.85, symbol MDT on New York, (Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $135.0 billion; www.medtronic.com), develops, manufactures, distributes, and sells a wide range of healthcare-related  devices and equipment. Based on revenue, the company is the world’s largest medical device provider. Medtronic operates in 140 countries and employs over 86,000 people. For tax purposes, it makes its head office in Dublin, Ireland, but has its operational headquarters in Fridley, Minnesota. The company operates in four segments: the Cardiac and Vascular Group (35% of total revenue) includes pacemakers, defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices; the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group (23%) sells surgical products, such as surgical stapling devices, vessel sealing instruments, wound closure, and electrosurgery products, as well as ventilators; the Restorative Therapies Group (35%) offers products for spinal surgeons, neurosurgeons, neurologists, and other specialized surgeries; and the Diabetes Group sells insulin pumps, consumables, and glucose monitoring systems (7%). Roughly 53% of the company’s sales are from the U.S., 32% from non-U.S….