Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its stake in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,561 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Stryker were worth $8,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SYK. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Stryker by 10.0% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,753 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Stryker by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $4,059,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Stryker by 83.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,379 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Stryker by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 15,967 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,768,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its stake in Stryker by 141.4% during the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 3,577 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095 shares during the period. 77.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In other Stryker news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of Stryker 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total transaction of $78,993,998.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,567,498. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Stryker Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE SYK opened at $386.47 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $377.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $368.21. Stryker Co. has a 12 month low of $314.93 and a 12 month high of $406.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on SYK. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Stryker from $411.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.68.

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.