ZEGA Investments LLC Acquires New Stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

ZEGA Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 3,214 shares of the medical technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,267,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SYK. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Stryker during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Stryker by 618.2% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 79 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in Stryker during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Stock Down 0.8 %

Stryker stock opened at $371.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $384.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $373.93. Stryker Co. has a twelve month low of $314.93 and a twelve month high of $406.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 13.25%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In related news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total value of $941,586.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,705,827.65. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on SYK shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Stryker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $421.90.

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.