Stryker (NYSE:SYK) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Stryker (NYSE:SYK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on SYK. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Stryker in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Stryker from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Stryker from $448.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial raised Stryker from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $418.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on Stryker from $410.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.56.

Stryker Stock Down 0.3%

SYK stock opened at $368.35 on Friday. Stryker has a one year low of $329.16 and a one year high of $404.87. The firm has a market cap of $140.86 billion, a PE ratio of 43.85, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $359.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $371.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.40 by $0.07. Stryker had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Stryker will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Stryker’s payout ratio is presently 41.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stryker news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 276,173 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.28, for a total value of $97,566,397.44. Following the sale, the director owned 2,702,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $954,600,714.24. This trade represents a 9.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO William E. Berry, Jr. sold 1,953 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.49, for a total value of $713,801.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,433.17. The trade was a 40.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 522,118 shares of company stock worth $185,381,932 in the last quarter. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stryker

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Stryker by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,907,291 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $11,917,396,000 after buying an additional 133,892 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,956,732 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,929,765,000 after acquiring an additional 150,204 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Stryker by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,393,611 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,910,445,000 after acquiring an additional 79,654 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Stryker by 13.3% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,338,050 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,342,987,000 after purchasing an additional 741,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Stryker in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,882,173,000. 77.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Stryker

Stryker Corporation is a global medical technology company that designs, manufactures and markets a broad range of products and services for use in hospitals, surgeons’ offices and other healthcare facilities. Its primary business activities span orthopedics (including joint replacement implants, trauma and extremities products), surgical equipment and operating room technologies (such as visualization, navigation and powered instruments), neurotechnology and spine solutions, and patient-handling and emergency medical equipment.