Westpac Banking Corp Sells 7,679 Shares of Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK)

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp reduced its holdings in Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) by 29.2%, selling 7,679 shares and bringing its total shares to 18,631, valued at approximately $6.94 million.
• Insider Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 200,000 shares for about $75.29 million, decreasing her ownership stake by 5.84% to over 3.22 million shares.
• Stryker recently reported earnings of $3.13 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenue increasing by 11.1% year-over-year to $6.02 billion.

Westpac Banking Corp cut its stake in shares of Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK - Free Report) by 29.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,631 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 7,679 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Stryker were worth $6,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Stryker by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,564 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,643,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Stryker by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 60,324 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $21,720,000 after purchasing an additional 5,760 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Stryker by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,643 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $3,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Stryker in the fourth quarter valued at $1,100,000. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc raised its position in Stryker by 151.2% during the 4th quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 10,031 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $3,612,000 after purchasing an additional 6,038 shares during the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Stryker

In related news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 200,000 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.45, for a total transaction of $75,290,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,222,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,212,962,556.60. The trade was a 5.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Stryker Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Stryker stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $378.54. 1,622,546 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,441,777. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Stryker Corporation has a 1-year low of $329.16 and a 1-year high of $406.19. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $386.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $379.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.72 billion, a PE ratio of 50.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.91.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Stryker Corporation will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Stryker's dividend payout ratio is 44.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SYK shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $455.00 target price (up from $443.00) on shares of Stryker in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $450.00 target price on Stryker in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Stryker from $405.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Stryker from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stryker from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stryker has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $430.10.

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.