Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Cuts Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 297,677 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 4,364 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $107,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Stryker by 94.9% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 76 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stryker during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Stock Performance

NYSE:SYK opened at $394.53 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $150.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $381.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $371.92. Stryker Co. has a 52 week low of $314.93 and a 52 week high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. Stryker had a net margin of 13.25% and a return on equity of 23.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s payout ratio is 43.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley raised Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $370.00 to $445.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Stryker from $384.00 to $427.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $422.15.

Insider Activity at Stryker

In related news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total value of $941,586.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,705,827.65. The trade was a 14.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total value of $78,993,998.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

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.