Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 1,535 Shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK - Free Report) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,862 shares of the medical technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,535 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Stryker were worth $3,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Stryker by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Planning LLC now owns 841 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in Stryker by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,948 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Stryker by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 2,194 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Stryker by 0.4% during the third quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 8,239 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $2,977,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 0.4% in the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,047 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $3,268,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Stryker

In other news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.70, for a total value of $21,131,303.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,879,954.90. The trade was a 36.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SYK. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Stryker from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Stryker from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Stryker from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stryker from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $405.80.

Stryker Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Stryker stock traded up $2.12 on Monday, hitting $383.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,727,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,070,245. Stryker Co. has a twelve month low of $307.23 and a twelve month high of $398.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $375.51 and a 200-day moving average of $359.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.95.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical technology company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $5.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.37 billion. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 16.34%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. Research analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is a boost from Stryker's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Stryker's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.01%.

Stryker Company 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.