State of Michigan Retirement System Lowers Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,099 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Stryker were worth $33,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYK. Chicago Capital LLC increased its stake in Stryker by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 195,052 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $70,228,000 after acquiring an additional 5,841 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in Stryker by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 114,889 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $41,366,000 after acquiring an additional 40,784 shares during the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its stake in Stryker by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 29,222 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $10,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Stryker by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,841 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $6,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Stryker by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 182,825 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $65,829,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stryker Price Performance

Shares of SYK stock opened at $394.53 on Tuesday. Stryker Co. has a twelve month low of $314.93 and a twelve month high of $406.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $381.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $371.92. 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 (NYSE:SYK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business posted $3.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on SYK. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $442.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Stryker from $384.00 to $427.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stryker presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $422.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total value of $941,586.06. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,705,827.65. This trade represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.