Empower Advisory Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 52.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,991 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SYK. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Stryker by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,816 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC boosted 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 worth $304,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Alhambra Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Stryker by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,997 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Stryker by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 687 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in Stryker by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,396 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 77.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on SYK. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $442.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Stryker from $411.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Stryker from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Stryker from $384.00 to $427.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $420.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stryker news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Stryker Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Stryker stock opened at $385.44 on Wednesday. Stryker Co. has a 52-week low of $314.93 and a 52-week high of $406.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $377.39 and a 200 day moving average of $367.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $146.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.96.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. Stryker had a net margin of 13.25% and a return on equity of 23.58%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 13.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Stryker’s payout ratio is currently 43.30%.

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.