Stryker (NYSE:SYK) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Leerink Partners

Key Points

• Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Stryker with an "outperform" rating and a $410 price target, implying roughly a 20.8% upside; the stock's consensus from analysts is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $422.53.
• Stryker recently reported a quarterly earnings beat (EPS $4.47 vs. $4.40) and revenue of $7.17 billion, up 11.4% year-over-year, supporting continued growth expectations.
• Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 250,000 shares for about $90.7 million, reducing her stake by 9.23%, while corporate insiders own roughly 4.6% and institutional investors hold about 77.1% of the stock.

Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an "outperform" rating and a $410.00 price target on the medical technology company's stock. Leerink Partners' price target suggests a potential upside of 20.83% from the company's current price.

SYK has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Stryker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $387.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stryker from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Stryker in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $385.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Stryker from $410.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $422.53.

Stryker Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SYK opened at $339.32 on Monday. Stryker has a 52 week low of $319.32 and a 52 week high of $404.87. The company's 50 day moving average is $354.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $360.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $129.95 billion, a PE ratio of 40.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.92.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The medical technology company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.40 by $0.07. Stryker had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 24.41%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.01 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Stryker will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $362.92, for a total transaction of $90,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,457,331 shares in the company, valued at $891,814,566.52. This represents a 9.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stryker

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Stryker by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 247 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Stryker by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,904 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in Stryker by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 745 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in Stryker by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,271 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, VanderPol Investments L.L.C. boosted its stake in Stryker by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. now owns 2,084 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company's stock.

Stryker Company Profile

Stryker Corporation is a global medical technology company that designs, manufactures and markets a broad range of products and services for use in hospitals, surgeons' offices and other healthcare facilities. Its primary business activities span orthopedics (including joint replacement implants, trauma and extremities products), surgical equipment and operating room technologies (such as visualization, navigation and powered instruments), neurotechnology and spine solutions, and patient-handling and emergency medical equipment.

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