White Pine Capital LLC Cuts Stock Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

White Pine Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,040 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. White Pine Capital LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Stryker by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,665,520 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $8,379,967,000 after acquiring an additional 143,631 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Stryker by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,972,582 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,632,127,000 after purchasing an additional 144,208 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Stryker by 4.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,315,227 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,452,493,000 after purchasing an additional 223,728 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Stryker by 3.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,505,595 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $957,974,000 after buying an additional 131,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Stryker by 2.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,740,456 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $475,614,000 after buying an additional 40,736 shares in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stryker Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYK traded down $1.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $335.61. 1,063,790 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,108,426. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $348.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $315.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.69 billion, a PE ratio of 40.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.89. Stryker Co. has a 52-week low of $249.98 and a 52-week high of $361.41.

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

Stryker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.79%.

Insider Activity at Stryker

In other Stryker news, CAO William E. Berry, Jr. sold 7,690 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 $1,317,414. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO William E. Berry, Jr. sold 7,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.48, for a total transaction of $2,756,711.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,317,414. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 3,755,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,287,633,391.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 212,109 shares of company stock valued at $72,845,768. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SYK. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Stryker from $340.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Stryker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $360.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Stryker from $336.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $340.67.

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.