Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Sells 7,480 Shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC trimmed its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,288 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 7,480 shares during the period. Stryker accounts for about 3.7% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $44,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of Stryker by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 938 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker during the 4th quarter worth about $210,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Stryker by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,222 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. First Merchants Corp boosted its stake in shares of Stryker by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 62,069 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $18,586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Stockton boosted its stake in shares of Stryker by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 6,622 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,146 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.90, for a total transaction of $68,972,963.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,755,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,633,391.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,146 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.90, for a total value of $68,972,963.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,755,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,633,391.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO William E. Berry, Jr. sold 7,690 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.48, for a total transaction of $2,756,711.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,317,414. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 212,109 shares of company stock worth $72,845,768 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on SYK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Stryker from $336.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Stryker from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Stryker from $345.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $335.27.

Stryker Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE SYK traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $349.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 168,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,271,319. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $349.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $308.56. Stryker Co. has a 52-week low of $249.98 and a 52-week high of $361.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The medical technology company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $5.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.60 billion. Stryker had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 22.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 11.86 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.79%.

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.