Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) Position Increased by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,213 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 170 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Stryker were worth $1,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SYK. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Stryker during the third quarter valued at about $492,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stryker by 11.9% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 209,659 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $57,299,000 after acquiring an additional 22,276 shares during the period. Humankind Investments LLC increased its stake in Stryker by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Stryker by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 460,936 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $125,966,000 after buying an additional 41,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Stryker by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,505,595 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $957,974,000 after buying an additional 131,590 shares during the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SYK. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $367.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $392.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Stryker from $372.00 to $376.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Stryker in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $372.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Stryker from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Stryker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $370.58.

Stryker Price Performance

NYSE SYK opened at $342.64 on Friday. Stryker Co. has a 52 week low of $249.98 and a 52 week high of $361.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.11, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $336.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.65.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical technology company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.14. Stryker had a net margin of 16.03% and a return on equity of 23.05%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Stryker Co. will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Stryker’s payout ratio is 36.53%.

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.