Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Trims Stock Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. cut its position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,591 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 640 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $1,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYK. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Stryker by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 41,366 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $15,114,000 after acquiring an additional 11,247 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Stryker by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 3,630 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Stryker during the 4th quarter worth $3,800,000. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Stryker by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,409 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Stryker by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 17,137 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $6,170,000 after buying an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Stryker news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 approximately $1,428,567,498. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.70, for a total value of $21,131,303.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,879,954.90. This represents a 36.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Stryker Stock Up 0.4 %

SYK stock opened at $392.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Stryker Co. has a 12 month low of $314.93 and a 12 month high of $406.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.65 billion, a PE ratio of 50.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $376.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $364.00.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share 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 prior year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is a boost from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SYK shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Stryker from $411.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Stryker from $409.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $384.00 to $427.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Stryker from $420.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Stryker from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stryker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $419.37.

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.