Stryker (NYSE:SYK) Sets New 12-Month Low - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• 52-week low hit as shares fell to $317.09 (last $314.57), trading well below the 50‑day and 200‑day moving averages of $348.08 and $357.55.
• Analysts keep a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average price target of $421.11, despite mixed recent upgrades and downgrades.
• Stryker beat the quarter (EPS $4.47 vs. $4.40; revenue $7.17B, +11.4% YoY) and pays a $0.88 quarterly dividend (1.1% yield), but a director sold 250,000 shares at $362.92 while insiders own 4.6% and institutions hold 77.09%.

Shares of Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $317.09 and last traded at $314.57, with a volume of 45574 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $321.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Stryker from $448.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Stryker in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen lowered Stryker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $387.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Stryker from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $465.00 target price on shares of Stryker in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $421.11.

Stryker Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $121.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $348.08 and a 200 day moving average of $357.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The medical technology company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Stryker had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Stryker Corporation will post 14.91 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, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Stryker's payout ratio is presently 41.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stryker news, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.92, for a total transaction of $90,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,457,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $891,814,566.52. This represents a 9.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Stryker

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,907,291 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $11,917,396,000 after purchasing an additional 133,892 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,254,407 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $5,374,731,000 after purchasing an additional 311,507 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,535,572 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $2,636,238,000 after purchasing an additional 69,851 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,493,276 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $2,282,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198,665 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Stryker by 13.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,338,050 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $2,342,987,000 after purchasing an additional 741,542 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company's stock.

Stryker Company Profile

Stryker Corporation is a global medical technology company that designs, manufactures and markets a broad range of products and services for use in hospitals, surgeons' offices and other healthcare facilities. Its primary business activities span orthopedics (including joint replacement implants, trauma and extremities products), surgical equipment and operating room technologies (such as visualization, navigation and powered instruments), neurotechnology and spine solutions, and patient-handling and emergency medical equipment.

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