Investment House LLC Boosts Stock Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Investment House LLC grew its stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 39,856 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the quarter. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $14,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Stryker by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 195,052 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $70,228,000 after acquiring an additional 5,841 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Stryker by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 114,889 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $41,366,000 after acquiring an additional 40,784 shares during the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA lifted its holdings in Stryker by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 29,222 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $10,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Stryker by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,841 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $6,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Stryker by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 182,825 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $65,829,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on SYK shares. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $422.00 price target on Stryker in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $421.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stryker news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total transaction of $941,586.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,705,827.65. This trade represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total value of $78,993,998.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Stock Performance

NYSE:SYK opened at $376.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.52 billion, a PE ratio of 48.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $383.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $373.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Stryker Co. has a 12 month low of $314.93 and a 12 month high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 13.25%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s payout ratio is 43.30%.

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.