Stock Alert: Medtronic Declines

(RTTNews) - Shares of Medtronic plc (MDT) has pared initial losses and is now declining 0.5 percent in the morning trade on Thursday, at $115.90, after the medical device company said it has agreed to acquire privately held, London-based Digital Surgery.

The stock has been trading in a range of $82.77 to $122.15 in the past 52 weeks.

Thursday, Medtronic said it has agreed to acquire Digital Surgery, a privately held pioneer in surgical artificial intelligence or AI, data and analytics, and digital education and training. Medtronic noted that the acquisition will strengthen the Medtronic robotic assisted surgery platform and has applicability for the Medtronic broader portfolio. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Digital Surgery will join Medtronic's Surgical Robotics business as part of the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group. Medtronic expects the transaction to be immaterial to its fiscal 2020 adjusted earnings per share, while it is expected to meet Medtronic's long-term financial metrics for acquisitions.