Financial Counselors Inc. Buys 2,521 Shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,434 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,521 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $10,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Stryker during the first quarter valued at approximately $131,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Stryker by 1.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 673,924 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $180,182,000 after acquiring an additional 9,026 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Stryker during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,444,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Stryker by 21.6% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in Stryker by 9.2% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,140 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Stock Performance

SYK stock traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $346.60. 68,037 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,249,181. The firm has a market cap of $131.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.10, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $350.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $309.75. Stryker Co. has a 1-year low of $249.98 and a 1-year high of $361.41.

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

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Stryker’s payout ratio is 38.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SYK shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Stryker from $340.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Stryker from $362.00 to $406.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Stryker from $345.00 to $348.00 and gave the company 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $335.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In other Stryker news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,755,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,287,633,391.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 3,273 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,856,522. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.90, for a total transaction of $68,972,963.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,755,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,633,391.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 212,109 shares of company stock valued at $72,845,768 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

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.