Hixon Zuercher LLC Purchases 125 Shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Hixon Zuercher LLC lifted its position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,216 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Stryker makes up 3.1% of Hixon Zuercher LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $7,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SYK. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Stryker by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,582,959 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,279,788,000 after buying an additional 316,404 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Stryker by 3.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,306,994 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,639,725,000 after buying an additional 215,782 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Stryker by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,905,126 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,484,893,000 after buying an additional 165,490 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Stryker in the third quarter valued at $762,798,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Stryker by 1.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,969,757 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $711,594,000 after purchasing an additional 28,421 shares during the period. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stryker Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE SYK opened at $390.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $148.86 billion, a PE ratio of 50.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Stryker Co. has a 52-week low of $314.93 and a 52-week high of $406.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $376.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $362.18.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last announced its 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 23.86% and a net margin of 13.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 13.53 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio is 43.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SYK shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Stryker from $402.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $442.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Stryker from $384.00 to $427.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stryker presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $416.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In other Stryker 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 transaction of $21,131,303.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.