Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) Shares Bought by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 726 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SYK. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the 3rd quarter worth $762,798,000. RTW Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the 3rd quarter worth $143,392,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Stryker by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,582,959 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,279,788,000 after acquiring an additional 316,404 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stryker by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,306,994 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,639,725,000 after acquiring an additional 215,782 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 1,552.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 207,889 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $75,102,000 after purchasing an additional 195,310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Price Performance

Stryker stock opened at $386.55 on Friday. Stryker Co. has a 12-month low of $314.93 and a 12-month high of $406.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $380.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $371.22. 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 (NYSE:SYK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. Stryker had a net margin of 13.25% and a return on equity of 23.58%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total value of $941,586.06. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total transaction of $78,993,998.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $370.00 to $445.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Stryker presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $422.15.

Stryker Profile

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.