Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) Increases Dividend to $0.84 Per Share

Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.84 per share by the medical technology company on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is an increase from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80.

Stryker has raised its dividend by an average of 9.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 31 consecutive years. Stryker has a payout ratio of 23.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Stryker to earn $13.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.6%.

Stryker Stock Performance

Shares of SYK opened at $381.04 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Stryker has a 12 month low of $285.79 and a 12 month high of $398.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $371.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $354.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.94.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical technology company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.10. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $5.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. Stryker’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Stryker will post 12.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SYK. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Stryker from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $383.00 to $394.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $405.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $370.00 to $445.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Stryker from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Stryker currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP M Kathryn Fink sold 7,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.98, for a total value of $2,696,202.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,685,213.16. The trade was a 42.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,027 shares in the company, valued at $36,879,954.90. The trade was a 36.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,781 shares of company stock worth $24,612,275 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

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.