Woodline Partners LP Sells 91,497 Shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Woodline Partners LP reduced its stake in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK - Free Report) by 50.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,806 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 91,497 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in Stryker were worth $32,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Stryker in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,710,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Stryker in the fourth quarter worth $353,394,000. FMR LLC boosted 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 valued at $2,892,946,000 after buying an additional 727,850 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 52,520.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 596,194 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $214,660,000 after buying an additional 595,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Stryker by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,606,237 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,298,426,000 after buying an additional 420,153 shares during the period. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Stryker Stock Performance

Stryker stock traded down $1.27 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $377.01. 1,579,798 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,348,410. Stryker Co. has a 12 month low of $314.93 and a 12 month high of $406.19. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $368.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $376.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.93.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $5.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Stryker's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $422.00 price target on shares of Stryker in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Argus set a $450.00 price target on Stryker in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Stryker from $418.00 to $443.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $455.00 target price (up from $443.00) on shares of Stryker in a report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Stryker from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Stryker currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $427.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,417,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,195,208.96. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

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.