Hancock Whitney Corp Trims Stock Position in Stryker Corporation $SYK

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp significantly reduced its stake in Stryker Corporation by 63.1%, owning only 1,335 shares after selling 2,286 shares in the first quarter, valued at approximately $497,000.
• Numerous institutional investors have been active in Stryker, with City Holding Co. increasing their holdings by 528.6%, among other notable changes from various hedge funds.
• Wall Street analysts remain optimistic about Stryker, with several raising their price targets, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of around $430.10.

Hancock Whitney Corp lowered its holdings in Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK - Free Report) by 63.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,335 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 2,286 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Stryker were worth $497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Stryker by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,059,964 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $12,306,572,000 after acquiring an additional 361,136 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Stryker by 9.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,131,218 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $4,515,847,000 after buying an additional 1,021,496 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Stryker by 13.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,252,895 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $838,640,000 after buying an additional 261,058 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Stryker by 43,226.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,074,922 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $772,390,000 after buying an additional 2,070,133 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Stryker by 1.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,015,374 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $750,223,000 after buying an additional 30,329 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company's stock.

Stryker Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYK traded down $9.54 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $383.22. The company had a trading volume of 931,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,399,762. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $389.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $379.67. Stryker Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $329.16 and a fifty-two week high of $406.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The medical technology company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.07 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. Stryker had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 23.94%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. Stryker has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.400-13.600 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Stryker Corporation will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Stryker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 200,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.45, for a total value of $75,290,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,222,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,212,962,556.60. This trade represents a 5.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Viju Menon sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.61, for a total transaction of $195,305.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,886,921.71. This represents a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Stryker from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Stryker from $435.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial set a $415.00 price target on shares of Stryker and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Stryker from $442.00 to $448.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Stryker in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $431.42.

Stryker 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.