Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB Decreases Stock Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB lessened its stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,500 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB’s holdings in Stryker were worth $8,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYK. Chicago Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Stryker by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 195,052 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $70,228,000 after purchasing an additional 5,841 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stryker by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 114,889 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $41,366,000 after acquiring an additional 40,784 shares during the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA lifted its position in shares of Stryker by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 29,222 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $10,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stryker by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,841 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $6,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Stryker by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 182,825 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $65,829,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SYK. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $442.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $421.90.

Insider Activity at Stryker

In other Stryker 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 transaction of $78,993,998.08. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total transaction of $941,586.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,705,827.65. This trade represents a 14.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Stryker Price Performance

Shares of SYK opened at $346.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $381.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $374.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Stryker Co. has a 1-year low of $314.93 and a 1-year high of $406.19. The stock has a market cap of $132.12 billion, a PE ratio of 44.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share 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 posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s payout ratio is 43.30%.

Stryker Company Profile

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.