Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Stryker (NYSE:SYK)

Stryker (NYSE:SYK)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $442.00 price objective on the medical technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.28% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SYK. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Stryker presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $421.90.

Stryker Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SYK opened at $373.69 on Friday. Stryker has a 52 week low of $314.93 and a 52 week 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 company has a market capitalization of $142.59 billion, a PE ratio of 48.16, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $384.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $373.85.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 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 23.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Stryker will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In other Stryker news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at $5,705,827.65. This trade represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Stryker

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker during the 4th quarter worth about $247,000. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker during the 4th quarter worth about $415,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stryker by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 49,884 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $17,961,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Members Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker during the 4th quarter worth about $1,143,000. Finally, PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker during the 4th quarter worth about $1,080,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

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.