L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Increases Stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP increased its position in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,255 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. Stryker comprises approximately 2.4% of L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in Stryker were worth $18,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Stryker by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,665,520 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $8,379,967,000 after buying an additional 143,631 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Stryker by 2.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,393,817 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $4,402,083,000 after purchasing an additional 340,114 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Stryker by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,978,782 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,461,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,751 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Stryker by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,972,582 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,632,127,000 after purchasing an additional 144,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Stryker by 2.0% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,954,038 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,695,169,000 after purchasing an additional 117,786 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Stryker from $345.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Stryker from $336.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $340.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In other news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,146 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.90, for a total value of $68,972,963.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,755,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,633,391.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 3,273 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.00, for a total value of $1,116,093.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,242 shares in the company, valued at $4,856,522. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,146 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.90, for a total transaction of $68,972,963.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,755,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,633,391.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 212,109 shares of company stock valued at $72,845,768. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Stock Performance

Shares of Stryker stock traded down $0.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $357.87. 1,074,753 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,130,776. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.58. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $344.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $305.97. Stryker Co. has a 52-week low of $249.98 and a 52-week high of $361.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.38, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.89.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The medical technology company reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.19. Stryker had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 22.99%. The company had revenue of $5.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 11.86 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Stryker’s payout ratio is 38.79%.

Stryker 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.