Eastern Bank Raises Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Eastern Bank increased its stake in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,813 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Stryker were worth $1,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Stryker during the 3rd quarter worth about $762,798,000. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. lifted 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. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC lifted its holdings in Stryker by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC now owns 27,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $9,754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Stryker by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 618,041 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $210,289,000 after purchasing an additional 16,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Stryker by 126.1% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,142 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,941,000 after purchasing an additional 4,541 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Price Performance

Shares of Stryker stock opened at $360.96 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $375.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $358.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.95. Stryker Co. has a one year low of $307.23 and a one year high of $398.20.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical technology company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $5.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 16.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. Analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 12.06 EPS for the current 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. This is a positive change from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.01%.

Insider Transactions at Stryker

In related news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Stryker from $366.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Stryker from $380.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $405.80.

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.