Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,985,045 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,819 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $714,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SYK. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Stryker in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Stryker by 94.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 76 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Stryker in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Stryker during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $442.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $422.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total value of $941,586.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at $5,705,827.65. This trade represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Stryker Price Performance

Shares of SYK stock opened at $390.27 on Wednesday. Stryker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $314.93 and a fifty-two week high of $406.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.29, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $381.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $372.28.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 13.25% and a return on equity of 23.58%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.30%.

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.