Align Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Stryker Corporation $SYK

Key Points

• Align Financial LLC opened a new position in Stryker during the fourth quarter, buying 64,724 shares valued at about $22.75 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with investors such as Vanguard, State Street, Geode, and Norges Bank also increasing or adding to their stakes; institutions now own 77.09% of Stryker.
• Stryker reported mixed recent results: its latest quarter missed EPS and revenue estimates, while analysts still rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $395.33.

Align Financial LLC purchased a new position in Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 64,724 shares of the medical technology company's stock, valued at approximately $22,749,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,907,291 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $11,917,396,000 after purchasing an additional 133,892 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,254,407 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $5,374,731,000 after purchasing an additional 311,507 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,535,572 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $2,636,238,000 after purchasing an additional 69,851 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 13.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,338,050 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $2,342,987,000 after purchasing an additional 741,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,822,272,000. Institutional investors own 77.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SYK shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Stryker from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Stryker from $454.00 to $418.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $315.00 price target on Stryker in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BTIG Research decreased their price target on Stryker from $397.00 to $379.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price target on Stryker from $410.00 to $407.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stryker presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $395.33.

Insider Activity at Stryker

In related news, VP Robert S. Fletcher sold 4,544 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.87, for a total transaction of $1,394,417.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 10,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,247,298.34. This trade represents a 30.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP M Kathryn Fink sold 3,500 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.45, for a total value of $992,075.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 177 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,170.65. This represents a 95.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 323,264 shares of company stock valued at $100,659,489. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company's stock.

Stryker Price Performance

Stryker stock opened at $301.24 on Thursday. Stryker Corporation has a one year low of $281.00 and a one year high of $404.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $314.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $342.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.87, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.78.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical technology company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.42% and a net margin of 13.20%.Stryker's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.84 earnings per share. Stryker has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.900-15.100 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Stryker Corporation will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Stryker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.74%.

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.

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