Short Interest in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) Grows By 16.5%

Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,730,000 shares, a growth of 16.5% from the February 13th total of 4,060,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Stryker from $409.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Stryker from $427.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $421.90.

Insider Transactions at Stryker

In other news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total value of $941,586.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,705,827.65. This trade represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,642,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,567,498. The trade was 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stryker

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Stryker by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,698,828 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $11,773,213,000 after acquiring an additional 252,188 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,582,959 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,279,788,000 after buying an additional 316,404 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,109,722 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $4,000,056,000 after buying an additional 54,693 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,034,844 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,892,946,000 after buying an additional 727,850 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,073,562 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,539,033,000 after buying an additional 168,436 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Price Performance

Shares of SYK traded down $2.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $376.02. 121,237 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,220,147. The company has a market cap of $143.48 billion, a PE ratio of 48.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. Stryker has a 52-week low of $314.93 and a 52-week high of $406.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $383.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $373.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 13.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Stryker will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current 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 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.30%.

Stryker Company Profile

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.