Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 203,311 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 4,683 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $73,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Chicago Capital LLC lifted its stake in Stryker by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 195,052 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $70,228,000 after buying an additional 5,841 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stryker by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 114,889 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $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% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,841 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $6,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in Stryker by 0.5% during the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

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 that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total value of $78,993,998.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,705,827.65. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

Stryker Price Performance

SYK stock opened at $346.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $132.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.95. Stryker Co. has a 1 year low of $314.93 and a 1 year high of $406.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $381.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $374.30.

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, 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 business earned $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SYK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $422.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Argus set a $450.00 price target on Stryker in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Stryker currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $421.90.

Stryker 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.