New Vernon Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

New Vernon Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK - Free Report) by 793.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,300 shares of the medical technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,140 shares during the quarter. Stryker comprises 4.2% of New Vernon Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. New Vernon Investment Management LLC's holdings in Stryker were worth $6,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chicago Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Stryker by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 195,052 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $70,228,000 after buying an additional 5,841 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Stryker by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 114,889 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $41,366,000 after acquiring an additional 40,784 shares in the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its stake in Stryker by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 29,222 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $10,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Stryker by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,841 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $6,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Stryker by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 182,825 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $65,829,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company's stock.

Stryker Stock Down 0.2 %

Stryker stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $370.12. 864,251 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,352,967. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $367.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $373.49. The firm has a market cap of $141.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.93. Stryker Co. has a 1 year low of $314.93 and a 1 year high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Stryker

In related news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total transaction of $941,586.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,705,827.65. This trade represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SYK. Argus set a $450.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stryker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Stryker has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $423.53.

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.