Utah Retirement Systems Increases Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Utah Retirement Systems grew its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,976 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Stryker were worth $21,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SYK. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Stryker by 618.2% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 79 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total value of $941,586.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,705,827.65. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total value of $78,993,998.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Stryker Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE SYK opened at $370.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.95. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $367.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $373.49. Stryker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $314.93 and a fifty-two week high of $406.19. The company has a market cap of $141.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.80, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.93.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on SYK. StockNews.com downgraded Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Argus set a $450.00 target price on Stryker in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Stryker from $418.00 to $443.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $423.53.

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.