Jones Financial Companies Lllp Grows Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 44.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,291 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,397 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Stryker were worth $9,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Stryker in the 3rd quarter worth $762,798,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Stryker by 52,520.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 596,194 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $214,660,000 after acquiring an additional 595,061 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP purchased a new stake in Stryker during the third quarter valued at about $143,392,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Stryker by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,582,959 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,279,788,000 after purchasing an additional 316,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 215,782 shares in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SYK shares. StockNews.com cut Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $442.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Stryker currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $422.15.

Stryker Price Performance

SYK opened at $394.53 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $381.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $371.92. Stryker Co. has a 52-week low of $314.93 and a 52-week high of $406.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.54 billion, a PE ratio of 50.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 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 period last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Stryker’s payout ratio is 43.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,705,827.65. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Company 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.