Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Lowers Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 45,108 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $15,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the first quarter valued at $39,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Stryker from $360.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Stryker from $364.00 to $345.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Stryker from $392.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Stryker from $370.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.11.

Stryker Stock Performance

Shares of Stryker stock traded up $0.81 on Friday, hitting $358.81. The stock had a trading volume of 75,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,290,043. Stryker Co. has a 52-week low of $249.98 and a 52-week high of $364.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $136.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $338.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $341.91.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The medical technology company reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. Stryker had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 16.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.54 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Stryker Co. will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.53%.

Insider Activity at Stryker

In other Stryker news, CFO Glenn S. Boehnlein sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.00, for a total transaction of $6,660,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $949,716. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Stryker news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 190,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.46, for a total transaction of $61,457,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,316,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,072,790,023.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Glenn S. Boehnlein sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.00, for a total value of $6,660,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $949,716. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 210,600 shares of company stock worth $68,330,400 in the last quarter. Company 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.