Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. Increases Stock Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. lifted its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 48.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,672 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 22,496 shares during the period. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $24,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Stryker during the fourth quarter worth about $1,384,000. Strategies Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stryker in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,295,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new position in Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $180,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Stryker by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,586 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its position in Stryker by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 571,002 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $205,597,000 after buying an additional 26,691 shares during the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SYK. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $422.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Argus set a $450.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $423.05.

Stryker Stock Up 0.5 %

SYK opened at $350.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $375.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $373.63. Stryker Co. has a 52 week low of $314.93 and a 52 week high of $406.19. The stock has a market cap of $133.60 billion, a PE ratio of 45.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.93.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s payout ratio is presently 43.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total value of $941,586.06. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.