Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) Shares Sold by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 33.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,051 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 534 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker in the 3rd quarter worth about $762,798,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 66,967.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 853,769 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $308,433,000 after purchasing an additional 852,496 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the third quarter valued at approximately $143,392,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Stryker by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,582,959 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,279,788,000 after acquiring an additional 316,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Stryker by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,306,994 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,639,725,000 after purchasing an additional 215,782 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Stryker

In other Stryker news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,027 shares in the company, 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 can be accessed through this link. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Stryker Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Stryker stock opened at $393.79 on Friday. Stryker Co. has a 1 year low of $307.23 and a 1 year high of $398.20. The company has a market cap of $150.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $375.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $360.16.

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

Stryker Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SYK. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Stryker from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $442.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Stryker from $411.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $405.80.

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.