Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 272,828 Shares of Stryker Corporation $SYK

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,773,399 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 272,828 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.83% of Stryker worth $12,485,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Stryker during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,882,173,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Stryker by 307.6% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,596,508 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,214,146,000 after buying an additional 4,223,366 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Stryker by 104.4% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,245,841 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $887,525,000 after buying an additional 1,146,998 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker in the 2nd quarter valued at about $191,047,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Stryker by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,080,958 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $423,530,000 after acquiring an additional 296,919 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.92, for a total transaction of $90,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,457,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $891,814,566.52. This trade represents a 9.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Preston Wendell Wells sold 165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.88, for a total value of $60,370.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 6,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,449,200.72. The trade was a 2.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SYK shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Stryker from $452.00 to $456.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Stryker in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Stryker from $448.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their target price on Stryker from $410.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stryker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.94.

Stryker Stock Performance

Shares of SYK opened at $366.02 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $358.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $369.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.07 billion, a PE ratio of 43.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.87. Stryker Corporation has a one year low of $329.16 and a one year high of $404.87.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.40 by $0.07. Stryker had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Stryker Corporation will post 13.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio is 41.90%.

About Stryker

Stryker Corporation is a global medical technology company that designs, manufactures and markets a broad range of products and services for use in hospitals, surgeons’ offices and other healthcare facilities. Its primary business activities span orthopedics (including joint replacement implants, trauma and extremities products), surgical equipment and operating room technologies (such as visualization, navigation and powered instruments), neurotechnology and spine solutions, and patient-handling and emergency medical equipment.