Athena Investment Management Reduces Holdings in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

Athena Investment Management lowered its position in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,068 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the period. Athena Investment Management’s holdings in Stryker were worth $385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Stryker by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 195,052 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $70,228,000 after purchasing an additional 5,841 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Stryker by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 114,889 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $41,366,000 after buying an additional 40,784 shares in the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA grew its position in shares of Stryker by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 29,222 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $10,521,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Stryker during the fourth quarter worth approximately $587,000. Finally, Berkshire Bank grew its position in shares of Stryker by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 8,489 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $3,056,000 after buying an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Stryker in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $384.00 to $427.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Stryker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $370.00 to $445.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $418.00 to $443.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $422.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Allan C. Golston sold 2,458 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.07, for a total value of $941,586.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,895 shares in the company, valued at $5,705,827.65. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ronda E. Stryker sold 201,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.24, for a total value of $78,993,998.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,642,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,567,498. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Stryker Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYK opened at $386.55 on Friday. Stryker Co. has a twelve month low of $314.93 and a twelve month high of $406.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $147.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.81, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $380.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $370.92.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The medical technology company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. Stryker had a net margin of 13.25% and a return on equity of 23.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.30%.

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.