Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) Position Raised by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Stryker Corporation by 1.6%, owning approximately 439,332 shares valued at $163.54 million.
• A significant sale of 200,000 shares by Director Ronda E. Stryker netted $75.29 million, decreasing her ownership by 5.84%.
• Stryker's recent earnings report exceeded expectations, with $3.13 EPS and a revenue of $6.02 billion, marking an 11.1% increase from the prior year.

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 439,332 shares of the medical technology company's stock after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.12% of Stryker worth $163,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Stryker in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. City Holding Co. boosted its position in shares of Stryker by 528.6% during the 1st quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 88 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stryker during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Stryker during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Stryker

In related news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 200,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.45, for a total transaction of $75,290,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,222,108 shares in the company, valued at $1,212,962,556.60. This trade represents a 5.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SYK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Stryker from $435.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Stryker in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Stryker from $442.00 to $448.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Stryker from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $450.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stryker presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $430.10.

Stryker Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of SYK stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $378.54. 1,622,546 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,441,777. Stryker Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $329.16 and a fifty-two week high of $406.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a market capitalization of $144.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.91. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $386.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $379.83.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The medical technology company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.07 by $0.06. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.94% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Stryker Corporation will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Stryker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.50%.

About Stryker

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.