Merit Financial Group LLC Has $3.19 Million Stock Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 20.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,862 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,535 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $3,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SYK. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Stryker by 94.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 76 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR increased its stake in shares of Stryker by 106.7% in the second quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 93 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Stryker during the third quarter worth about $36,000. HBW Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stryker in the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Stryker in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYK opened at $383.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $146.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.15, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.91. Stryker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $307.23 and a fifty-two week high of $398.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $375.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $358.98.

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

Stryker Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Stryker’s payout ratio is 36.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.70, for a total value of $21,131,303.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,879,954.90. This represents a 36.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SYK. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Stryker from $405.00 to $427.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $442.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Stryker from $411.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on Stryker from $366.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Stryker from $375.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stryker currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $405.80.

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.