Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Boosts Stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 63.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,350 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,687 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $8,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stryker by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,698,828 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $11,773,213,000 after purchasing an additional 252,188 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Stryker by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,034,844 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,892,946,000 after buying an additional 727,850 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,073,562 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,539,033,000 after buying an additional 168,436 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,710,744,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,007,105 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $722,658,000 after acquiring an additional 266,587 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:SYK opened at $346.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $370.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $373.16. Stryker Co. has a 12 month low of $314.93 and a 12 month high of $406.19. The company has a market capitalization of $132.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.65, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.93.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 13.25%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s payout ratio is 43.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SYK shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. BTIG Research set a $403.00 target price on Stryker and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Argus set a $450.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stryker currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $423.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at $5,705,827.65. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of Stryker 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

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.