Whittier Trust Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Whittier Trust Co. reduced its stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,091 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $1,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SYK. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stryker during the 4th quarter worth $333,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Stryker by 379.8% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,373 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $3,015,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stryker in the 4th quarter worth about $2,788,000. Fiduciary Group LLC increased its position in shares of Stryker by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 4,107 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Stryker by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 155,333 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $55,928,000 after buying an additional 37,557 shares in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Stryker Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE SYK opened at $371.38 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $384.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $373.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.71 billion, a PE ratio of 47.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Stryker Co. has a 12 month low of $314.93 and a 12 month high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued 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 period last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In related news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total transaction of $941,586.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SYK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus set a $450.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $421.90.

Stryker 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.