Retirement Systems of Alabama Boosts Stock Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,427 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Stryker were worth $27,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in Stryker in the 3rd quarter valued at $762,798,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stryker by 66,967.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 852,496 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker in the third quarter valued at about $143,392,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Stryker by 287.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 505,608 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $172,033,000 after acquiring an additional 375,166 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:SYK opened at $374.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Stryker Co. has a 12 month low of $285.79 and a 12 month high of $398.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.86 billion, a PE ratio of 40.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average is $373.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $354.92.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical technology company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $5.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. Stryker had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SYK. StockNews.com raised shares of Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Stryker from $411.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Stryker from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Stryker from $409.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stryker currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $404.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stryker news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the business’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 directly owns 100,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,879,954.90. The trade was a 36.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP M Kathryn Fink sold 7,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were 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 owns 10,042 shares in the company, valued at $3,685,213.16. The trade was a 42.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.