Needham & Company LLC Issues Positive Forecast for Stryker (NYSE:SYK) Stock Price

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) had its target price raised by Needham & Company LLC from $409.00 to $442.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the medical technology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on SYK. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Stryker from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $380.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Stryker from $402.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Stryker from $411.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Stryker from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $404.35.

Stryker Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Stryker stock opened at $375.14 on Thursday. Stryker has a one year low of $285.79 and a one year high of $398.20. The company has a market cap of $143.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.19, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $372.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $354.65.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical technology company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $5.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. Stryker had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Stryker will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is an increase from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP M Kathryn Fink sold 7,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.98, for a total transaction of $2,696,202.06. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,042 shares in the company, valued at $3,685,213.16. This represents a 42.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stryker

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SYK. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Stryker during the third quarter worth approximately $762,798,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Stryker by 66,967.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 853,769 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $308,433,000 after purchasing an additional 852,496 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP acquired a new stake in Stryker in the 3rd quarter valued at $143,392,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Stryker by 287.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 505,608 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $172,033,000 after purchasing an additional 375,166 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted 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 worth $5,279,788,000 after purchasing an additional 316,404 shares in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.