Wealth Alliance Lowers Stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Wealth Alliance lowered its stake in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,867 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Stryker were worth $672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SYK. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Stryker by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,753 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Stryker by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $4,059,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in Stryker by 83.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,379 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised 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 worth $5,768,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its position in Stryker by 141.4% in the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $5,705,827.65. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the business’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 transaction of $78,993,998.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Stryker Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of SYK opened at $386.47 on Friday. Stryker Co. has a 1-year low of $314.93 and a 1-year high of $406.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $377.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $368.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.80, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.96.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Stryker Co. will post 13.49 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s payout ratio is currently 43.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Stryker from $383.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $411.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.