Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,500 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Stryker were worth $6,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stryker during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $762,798,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Stryker by 66,967.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 853,769 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $308,433,000 after buying an additional 852,496 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP acquired a new stake in Stryker during the third quarter valued at $143,392,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 valued at $5,279,788,000 after buying an additional 316,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Stryker by 3.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,306,994 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,639,725,000 after acquiring an additional 215,782 shares during the period. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stryker Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Stryker stock opened at $390.52 on Wednesday. Stryker Co. has a 1-year low of $314.93 and a 1-year high of $406.19. 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 stock has a market cap of $148.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $377.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $365.59.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 13.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on SYK. UBS Group raised their target price on Stryker from $366.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $442.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Stryker from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In other Stryker news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total value of $78,993,998.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,567,498. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.