Welch Group LLC Acquires 2,683 Shares of Stryker Corporation $SYK

Welch Group LLC increased its stake in Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,897 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,683 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $9,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SYK. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Stryker by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,532,565 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $4,903,772,000 after purchasing an additional 183,400 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Stryker by 0.6% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,167,185 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,571,357,000 after buying an additional 45,478 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Stryker in the second quarter valued at about $1,404,284,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Stryker by 6.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,273,232 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,075,552,000 after buying an additional 199,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Stryker by 21.8% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,689,376 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $846,723,000 after buying an additional 481,175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ronda Stryker sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.10, for a total value of $17,005,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,251,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $765,692,637.50. This trade represents a 2.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Debra King sold 826 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.30, for a total transaction of $277,783.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 6,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,088,423. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 351,267 shares of company stock valued at $118,197,701 over the last ninety days. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SYK. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $385.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Stryker in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Stryker from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Stryker from $298.00 to $290.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Stryker from $418.00 to $359.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.44.

Stryker Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE SYK opened at $291.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $111.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $292.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $324.51. Stryker Corporation has a 12 month low of $267.00 and a 12 month high of $389.33.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The medical technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by ($0.03). Stryker had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 23.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Stryker Corporation will post 14.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.49%.

About Stryker

Stryker Corporation (NYSE: SYK) is a global medical technology company that develops and manufactures products used by healthcare providers in hospitals, surgical centers and other clinical settings. Its offerings are designed to support orthopaedic procedures, surgery, emergency care, neurovascular treatment and patient handling.

The company’s product portfolio includes orthopaedic implants and instruments, products for trauma and spine procedures, surgical equipment, endoscopy systems, patient beds and stretchers, emergency medical equipment, and neurovascular devices used in the treatment of conditions such as stroke.