Aspen Investment Management Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Aspen Investment Management Inc raised its position in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,647 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 133 shares during the quarter. Aspen Investment Management Inc’s holdings in Stryker were worth $1,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Stryker by 94.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 76 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stryker during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Stryker in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Stryker in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker in the third quarter worth about $42,000. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SYK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Stryker from $384.00 to $427.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Stryker from $418.00 to $443.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Stryker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $420.68.

Insider Transactions at Stryker

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 value of $78,993,998.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total transaction of $941,586.06. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,705,827.65. The trade was 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 0.5 %

Shares of SYK opened at $386.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $377.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $368.21. Stryker Co. has a one year low of $314.93 and a one year high of $406.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.80, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. Stryker had a net margin of 13.25% and a return on equity of 23.58%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 13.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The firm 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 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.30%.

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.