Parnassus Investments LLC Sells 142,911 Shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,968,582 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 142,911 shares during the period. Stryker accounts for about 1.6% of Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $708,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Stryker by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,582,959 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,279,788,000 after acquiring an additional 316,404 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stryker by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,306,994 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,639,725,000 after acquiring an additional 215,782 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stryker by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,905,126 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,484,893,000 after acquiring an additional 165,490 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Stryker by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,985,045 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $714,715,000 after purchasing an additional 48,819 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Stryker by 1.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,969,757 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $711,594,000 after purchasing an additional 28,421 shares during the period. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stryker news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of Stryker 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 transaction, the director now owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,705,827.65. This trade represents a 14.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of Stryker 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYK opened at $363.79 on Friday. Stryker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $314.93 and a fifty-two week high of $406.19. The stock has a market cap of $138.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.88, a PEG 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $382.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $373.26.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last announced its quarterly 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 previous year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Stryker’s payout ratio is 43.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $442.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Stryker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $421.90.

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.