Hixon Zuercher LLC Boosts Stock Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Hixon Zuercher LLC lifted its position in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,216 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Stryker makes up 3.1% of Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $7,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SYK. Capital Planning LLC boosted its position in Stryker by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Planning LLC now owns 841 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Stryker by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,997 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in Stryker by 1.1% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,948 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Union Savings Bank boosted its position in Stryker by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 3,162 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Stryker by 1.5% in the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 2,194 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of SYK stock opened at $390.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $376.55 and a 200 day moving average of $362.18. 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 market cap of $148.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.95. Stryker Co. has a twelve month low of $314.93 and a twelve month high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.53 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In other Stryker news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the firm’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 value of $21,131,303.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,879,954.90. This trade represents a 36.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Stryker from $366.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Stryker from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $416.40.

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.