Sunbelt Securities Inc. Acquires 102 Shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 25.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 501 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SYK. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in Stryker by 94.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 76 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR raised its position in shares of Stryker by 106.7% during the 2nd quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 93 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stryker during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. HBW Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Stryker in the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Stryker in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SYK. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Stryker from $380.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Stryker from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Stryker in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Stryker from $411.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $404.35.

Insider Activity at Stryker

In other news, VP M Kathryn Fink sold 7,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.98, for a total transaction of $2,696,202.06. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,685,213.16. The trade was a 42.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.70, for a total transaction of $21,131,303.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,879,954.90. The trade was a 36.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Stryker Stock Performance

Shares of SYK stock opened at $374.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $373.36 and a 200 day moving average of $355.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.15, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.94. Stryker Co. has a 52 week low of $285.79 and a 52 week high of $398.20.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical technology company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.10. Stryker had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The firm had revenue of $5.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.30%.

About Stryker

Stryker Corporation operates as a medical technology company. The company operates through two segments, MedSurg and Neurotechnology, and Orthopaedics and Spine. The Orthopaedics and Spine segment provides implants for use in total joint replacements, such as hip, knee and shoulder, and trauma and extremities surgeries.