Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $792,000 Stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,201 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Stryker during the third quarter worth approximately $762,798,000. RTW Investments LP acquired a new position in Stryker in the third quarter valued at approximately $143,392,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 2.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 215,782 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Stryker by 1,552.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 207,889 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $75,102,000 after acquiring an additional 195,310 shares in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SYK shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. BTIG Research raised their target price on Stryker from $383.00 to $394.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Stryker from $380.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stryker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $422.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Stryker Price Performance

Stryker stock opened at $382.59 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $145.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $378.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $369.34. Stryker Co. has a 52 week low of $314.93 and a 52 week high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.30%.

Stryker 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.