Essential Planning LLC. Buys New Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Essential Planning LLC. bought a new stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,640 shares of the medical technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,354,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYK. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Stryker by 94.9% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 76 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Stryker in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $421.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stryker news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total transaction of $941,586.06. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,705,827.65. The trade was a 14.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total transaction of $78,993,998.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,567,498. The trade was 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:SYK opened at $363.52 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $382.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $373.33. Stryker Co. has a 1-year low of $314.93 and a 1-year high of $406.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $138.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted 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 net margin of 13.25% and a return on equity of 23.58%. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Stryker’s payout ratio is currently 43.30%.

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.