Short Interest in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) Rises By 16.5%

Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,730,000 shares, an increase of 16.5% from the February 13th total of 4,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $442.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $422.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stryker presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $421.90.

Stryker Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Stryker stock traded up $2.15 on Wednesday, reaching $378.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,554,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,224,035. The company has a market capitalization of $144.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $383.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $373.82. Stryker has a 52 week low of $314.93 and a 52 week high of $406.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its earnings results 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 last year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Stryker will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In other Stryker news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total transaction of $941,586.06. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,705,827.65. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stryker

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Stryker in the third quarter valued at about $362,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 6.5% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,504 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,350,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 6.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 93,239 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $33,683,000 after purchasing an additional 5,995 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 10.3% in the third quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 2.8% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,611 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $3,118,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.