Cooper Financial Group Acquires 115 Shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Cooper Financial Group lifted its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 883 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Stryker were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Stryker by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,669 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Talbot Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Stryker by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 44,722 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $16,102,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Stryker by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 882 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Stryker by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 7,547 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,719,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $432,000. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stryker Stock Up 0.5 %

Stryker stock opened at $362.68 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $375.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $358.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.91. The company has a market cap of $138.26 billion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.95. Stryker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $307.23 and a fifty-two week high of $398.20.

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

Stryker Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is a positive change from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,879,954.90. This trade represents a 36.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SYK. Citigroup lifted their target price on Stryker from $411.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $442.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Stryker from $380.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Stryker from $375.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Stryker from $405.00 to $427.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $405.80.

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.