Long Road Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Long Road Investment Counsel LLC cut its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,025 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Stryker comprises 6.2% of Long Road Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Long Road Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $15,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised 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 worth $5,279,788,000 after purchasing an additional 316,404 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Stryker by 3.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,306,994 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,639,725,000 after purchasing an additional 215,782 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Stryker by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,905,126 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,484,893,000 after purchasing an additional 165,490 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in Stryker in the third quarter valued at $762,798,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Stryker by 2.5% in 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 in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Stryker Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:SYK opened at $373.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.95. Stryker Co. has a 52 week low of $314.93 and a 52 week high of $406.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $383.29 and its 200-day moving average is $373.71. The firm has a market cap of $142.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Stryker’s payout ratio is 43.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $409.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus set a $450.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $421.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total value of $941,586.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at $5,705,827.65. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total transaction of $78,993,998.08. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

About Stryker

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.