Stryker Corporation $SYK Shares Sold by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in Stryker Corporation by 7.0% in the first quarter, now owning 11,434 shares worth approximately $4.3 million.
• Stryker reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.13, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue growth of 11.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.84 per share, with a payout ratio of 44.50% and a dividend yield of 0.9%.

Plato Investment Management Ltd trimmed its stake in Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK - Free Report) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,434 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 861 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Stryker were worth $4,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Stryker by 43,226.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,070,133 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stryker during the first quarter worth $558,075,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Stryker by 9.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Stryker by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,373,142 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $511,152,000 after acquiring an additional 549,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Stryker during the 4th quarter worth about $154,140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.45, for a total transaction of $75,290,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,222,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,212,962,556.60. The trade was a 5.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Viju Menon sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were 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 $4,886,921.71. This trade represents a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Stryker Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of Stryker stock traded down $5.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $383.32. 985,297 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 978,978. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $388.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $379.65. The stock has a market cap of $146.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.93. Stryker Corporation has a 12-month low of $329.16 and a 12-month high of $406.19.

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

Stryker Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SYK. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Stryker in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Stryker from $435.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stryker from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Truist Financial set a $415.00 target price on shares of Stryker and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $455.00 price objective (up from $443.00) on shares of Stryker in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $431.42.

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.