4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Medtronic

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 115,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, medical device giant Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) has earned a respected four-star ranking. While five-star stocks have been the best performers, our data has shown that four-star stocks still outshine the market by a significant margin and shouldn't be taken lightly; conversely, low-rated stocks have woefully lagged the market average.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Medtronic's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Over on CAPS, 283 of the 291 All-Star members who have rated Medtronic -- or 97% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500. These All-Star bulls include NetscribeMedDevs and weiwentg, both of whom are ranked in the top 15% of our community.

In February 2007, Netscribe noted that Medtronic "is the largest medical-equipment maker with more than 50% share in its core heart devices segment. It also holds market-leading positions in spinal products and insulin pumps."

In an earlier pitch, weiwentg shares that bullish spirit, further stressing the company's long-term prospects as a market leader:

Medtronic is a very well-run, innovative, diversified medical device maker, which has significant market share in heart devices, spinal products, and insulin pumps. Heart disease is, coincidentally, the leading killer of Americans. I would rather see heart disease rates fall dramatically and Medtronic have to struggle a little to find another device market, but that's not going to happen so fast. Meanwhile, MDT's returns on invested capital are more than double its cost of capital. This should be a great franchise to own over the next ten years, maybe more.

What do you think about Medtronic, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.