Empirical Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 51,348 shares of the medical technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,488,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker in the third quarter valued at approximately $762,798,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Stryker by 66,967.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 853,769 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $308,433,000 after purchasing an additional 852,496 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker in the 3rd quarter worth $143,392,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Stryker by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,582,959 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,279,788,000 after buying an additional 316,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Stryker by 49.8% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 686,416 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $233,553,000 after buying an additional 228,139 shares during the period. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SYK shares. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Stryker from $383.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $442.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Stryker from $405.00 to $427.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $405.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In other Stryker news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,879,954.90. The trade was a 36.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Stock Performance

Shares of Stryker stock opened at $381.32 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $375.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $358.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.87, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Stryker Co. has a 52 week low of $307.23 and a 52 week high of $398.20.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. Stryker had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 12.06 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. This is a boost from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Stryker’s payout ratio is currently 36.01%.

Stryker Company 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.