Howland Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Howland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 87,461 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 7,611 shares during the period. Stryker accounts for 1.4% of Howland Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $31,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Stryker by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 430 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Stryker in the 3rd quarter worth about $108,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Stryker by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 15,475 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,601,000 after acquiring an additional 4,696 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its stake in Stryker by 160.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 5,017 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 3,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Stryker by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Trading Down 1.2 %

SYK opened at $391.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $149.22 billion, a PE ratio of 50.44, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.96. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $377.23 and a 200-day moving average of $364.80. Stryker Co. has a 52 week low of $314.93 and a 52 week high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 13.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stryker news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Stryker from $402.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Stryker from $380.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stryker currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $419.37.

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.