Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Raises Stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK - Free Report) by 151.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,031 shares of the medical technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,038 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc's holdings in Stryker were worth $3,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,698,828 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $11,773,213,000 after acquiring an additional 252,188 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Stryker by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,034,844 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $2,892,946,000 after buying an additional 727,850 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Stryker by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,073,562 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $2,539,033,000 after purchasing an additional 168,436 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at $1,710,744,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Stryker by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,007,105 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $722,658,000 after purchasing an additional 266,587 shares during the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SYK shares. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stryker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Stryker from $418.00 to $443.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Stryker in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $423.53.

Insider Activity

In other Stryker news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,428,567,498. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total value of $941,586.06. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at $5,705,827.65. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

Stryker Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SYK traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $346.46. 1,349,873 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,362,954. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $371.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $373.11. Stryker Co. has a 12-month low of $314.93 and a 12-month high of $406.19. The stock has a market cap of $132.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.93.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Stryker's payout ratio is 43.30%.

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.