Stryker (NYSE:SYK) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Stryker (NYSE:SYK) in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $442.00 price objective on the medical technology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $422.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $370.00 to $445.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Stryker currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $421.90.

Stryker Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:SYK opened at $371.38 on Friday. Stryker has a 12 month low of $314.93 and a 12 month high of $406.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $384.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $373.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $141.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.86, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its 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 firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Stryker will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Stryker’s payout ratio is presently 43.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total transaction of $78,993,998.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total transaction of $941,586.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at $5,705,827.65. The trade was a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stryker

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Stryker by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,698,828 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $11,773,213,000 after purchasing an additional 252,188 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Stryker by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,582,959 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,279,788,000 after purchasing an additional 316,404 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Stryker by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,109,722 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $4,000,056,000 after purchasing an additional 54,693 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Stryker by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,034,844 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,892,946,000 after purchasing an additional 727,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Stryker by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,073,562 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,539,033,000 after purchasing an additional 168,436 shares during the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.