Stryker (NYSE:SYK) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stryker (NYSE:SYK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on SYK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Stryker from $405.00 to $427.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on Stryker from $402.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Canaccord Genuity Group raised 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. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Stryker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $405.80.

Stryker Price Performance

Stryker stock opened at $390.31 on Wednesday. Stryker has a one year low of $307.23 and a one year high of $398.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $375.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $359.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $148.79 billion, a PE ratio of 41.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.95.

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, 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Stryker will post 12.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.01%.

Insider Transactions at Stryker

In related news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Stryker

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in Stryker by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 114,889 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $41,366,000 after buying an additional 40,784 shares in the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Stryker in the 4th quarter valued at about $587,000. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Stryker during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,350,000. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in Stryker during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $762,798,000. Finally, Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Stryker by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 66,681 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $24,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.