Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,067 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 211 shares during the quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Stryker were worth $7,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Stryker by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 3,653 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Stryker by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stryker by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,816 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Stryker by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alhambra Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Stryker by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,997 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYK has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Argus set a $450.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $422.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Stryker from $418.00 to $443.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $421.90.

Stryker Stock Up 0.0 %

SYK stock opened at $367.87 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $384.47 and its 200 day moving average is $374.24. The stock has a market cap of $140.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Stryker Co. has a 1-year low of $314.93 and a 1-year high of $406.19.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stryker

In related news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,705,827.65. The trade was a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total transaction of $78,993,998.08. Following 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. Corporate 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.