California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Stock Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 805,102 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143,237 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Stryker were worth $289,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SYK. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Stryker by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 3,653 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Stryker by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Stryker by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,816 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Stryker by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Stryker by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 841 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In other news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total transaction of $78,993,998.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $5,705,827.65. This trade represents 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SYK. Morgan Stanley raised Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $422.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Stryker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $421.90.

Stryker Stock Performance

NYSE SYK opened at $364.38 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $384.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $374.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Stryker Co. has a 1 year low of $314.93 and a 1 year high of $406.19. The company has a market capitalization of $139.08 billion, a PE ratio of 46.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.30%.

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.