Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Position in Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK - Free Report) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 195,259 shares of the medical technology company's stock after buying an additional 18,303 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Stryker worth $72,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital & Planning LLC raised its stake in Stryker by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 841 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,564 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,643,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Stryker by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 13,035 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $4,693,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 52.3% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,991 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company's stock.

Stryker Trading Down 0.0%

SYK traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $373.22. 854,682 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,333,573. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $373.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $375.52. The firm has a market cap of $142.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.91. Stryker Corporation has a 1 year low of $314.93 and a 1 year high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical technology company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.11. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.74% and a net margin of 12.31%. The firm had revenue of $5.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Stryker Corporation will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Stryker's payout ratio is presently 45.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SYK shares. BTIG Research set a $403.00 price objective on Stryker and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Stryker in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $455.00 price target (up previously from $443.00) on shares of Stryker in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Stryker from $400.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stryker from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $427.30.

Insider Activity

In other Stryker news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.96, for a total transaction of $75,392,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,417,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,195,208.96. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

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.