Empirical Finance LLC Has $4.11 Million Stock Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Empirical Finance LLC cut its position in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,426 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 130 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $4,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Stryker by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,644 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Stryker by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,318 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,155,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Conning Inc. grew its stake in Stryker by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 2,520 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $907,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Stryker by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 119,513 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $43,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Appleton Partners Inc. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 29,222 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $10,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 target price (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Stryker in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on Stryker from $402.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $419.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total transaction of $78,993,998.08. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Stryker Stock Performance

NYSE SYK opened at $391.42 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $377.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $364.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Stryker Co. has a 52-week low of $314.93 and a 52-week high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 13.49 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

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

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.