Stryker Corporation $SYK Shares Purchased by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) by 115.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,261 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,746 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $1,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Stryker in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,882,173,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Stryker by 307.6% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,596,508 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,214,146,000 after buying an additional 4,223,366 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Stryker by 104.4% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,245,841 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $887,525,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146,998 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new position in Stryker during the 2nd quarter valued at about $191,047,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Stryker by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,500,571 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $13,253,831,000 after acquiring an additional 440,607 shares in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Stryker

In other news, CFO Preston Wendell Wells sold 165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.88, for a total value of $60,370.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 6,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,449,200.72. This represents a 2.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 276,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.28, for a total value of $97,566,397.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,702,108 shares in the company, valued at $954,600,714.24. This trade represents a 9.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 522,118 shares of company stock valued at $185,381,932. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Stryker Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:SYK opened at $359.59 on Wednesday. Stryker Corporation has a 52 week low of $329.16 and a 52 week high of $406.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $360.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $373.37. The company has a market cap of $137.52 billion, a PE ratio of 47.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The medical technology company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.04 billion. Stryker had a net margin of 12.07% and a return on equity of 24.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.87 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Stryker Corporation will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Stryker’s payout ratio is currently 46.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYK has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI set a $390.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Stryker from $455.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $448.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Stryker from $450.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Stryker from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $418.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stryker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.00.

Stryker Profile

Stryker Corporation is a global medical technology company that designs, manufactures and markets a broad range of products and services for use in hospitals, surgeons’ offices and other healthcare facilities. Its primary business activities span orthopedics (including joint replacement implants, trauma and extremities products), surgical equipment and operating room technologies (such as visualization, navigation and powered instruments), neurotechnology and spine solutions, and patient-handling and emergency medical equipment.