Premier Fund Managers Ltd Decreases Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd lessened its stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 53.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,706 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 24,484 shares during the quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Stryker were worth $7,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SYK. Chicago Capital LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 5,841 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC increased its holdings in Stryker by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 114,889 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $41,366,000 after buying an additional 40,784 shares during the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Stryker by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,841 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $6,064,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stryker news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,705,827.65. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of Stryker 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Stryker Stock Performance

NYSE SYK opened at $367.87 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $384.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $374.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $140.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.41, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. Stryker Co. has a 1-year low of $314.93 and a 1-year high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 13.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s payout ratio is currently 43.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SYK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley raised Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Stryker from $418.00 to $443.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $421.90.

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.