Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 11,400 Shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 436,100 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 11,400 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Stryker were worth $157,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SYK. State Street Corp raised its position in Stryker by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,582,959 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,279,788,000 after acquiring an additional 316,404 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $2,639,725,000 after purchasing an additional 215,782 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $2,484,893,000 after purchasing an additional 165,490 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in Stryker in the third quarter valued at approximately $762,798,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Stryker by 2.5% during 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. 77.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total value of $78,993,998.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,705,827.65. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $421.90.

Stryker Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of SYK opened at $376.13 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $143.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $383.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $373.82.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s payout ratio is currently 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.