New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 606,829 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 36,823 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.16% of Stryker worth $181,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its stake in shares of Stryker by 203.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 91 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC purchased a new stake in Stryker during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Stryker by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Stryker by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 140 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 3,273 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.00, for a total transaction of $1,116,093.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,856,522. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.90, for a total transaction of $68,972,963.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,755,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,633,391.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Allan C. Golston sold 3,273 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.00, for a total value of $1,116,093.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,856,522. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 212,109 shares of company stock worth $72,845,768 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SYK shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Stryker from $336.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Stryker from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Stryker from $360.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Stryker from $345.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $315.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Stryker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $340.45.

Stryker Price Performance

Shares of Stryker stock traded up $2.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $327.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,688,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,277,795. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.89. Stryker Co. has a one year low of $249.98 and a one year high of $361.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $349.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $313.59.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The medical technology company reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.60 billion. Stryker had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 22.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stryker Co. will post 11.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.79%.

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.