Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 2,536 Shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 144,812 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 2,536 shares during the quarter. Stryker makes up about 2.6% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Stryker were worth $53,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SYK. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Stryker during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,710,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Stryker by 43,226.8% during the 1st 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Stryker during the 4th quarter valued at $353,394,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 10.0% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Stryker by 52,520.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 596,194 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $214,660,000 after acquiring an additional 595,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.09% of the company's stock.

Stryker Stock Up 0.3%

SYK traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $384.15. 709,048 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,330,144. Stryker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $314.93 and a fifty-two week high of $406.19. The company has a market cap of $146.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.50, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $369.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $376.06.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical technology company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.11. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 13.25%. The company had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Stryker's payout ratio is 45.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.96, for a total value of $75,392,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,417,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,195,208.96. The trade was a 5.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on SYK shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Stryker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. BTIG Research set a $403.00 target price on Stryker and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Stryker from $400.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Stryker from $405.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Stryker in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $427.30.

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.