Scharf Investments LLC Increases Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Scharf Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,052 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 537 shares during the quarter. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $2,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in Stryker by 11.3% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Stryker by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 69,843 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $25,231,000 after acquiring an additional 5,235 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Stryker by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 6,147 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,221,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. raised its position in Stryker by 8.6% during the third quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 3,369 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 0.9% in the third quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,633 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.70, for a total value of $21,131,303.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,879,954.90. This trade represents a 36.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Stryker Stock Performance

Shares of SYK opened at $390.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $149.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.37, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average is $376.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $362.38. Stryker Co. has a 52-week low of $314.93 and a 52-week high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.25% and a return on equity of 23.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. Analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 13.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Stryker from $402.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Stryker from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.