MetLife Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK)

MetLife Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,383 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 1,448 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Stryker were worth $34,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SYK. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Stryker in the 3rd quarter worth $762,798,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Stryker by 66,967.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 853,769 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $308,433,000 after acquiring an additional 852,496 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Stryker by 287.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 505,608 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $172,033,000 after purchasing an additional 375,166 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Stryker by 49.8% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 686,416 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $233,553,000 after purchasing an additional 228,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,306,994 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,639,725,000 after purchasing an additional 215,782 shares in the last quarter. 77.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SYK shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Stryker from $380.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Stryker from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Stryker from $386.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Stryker from $381.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stryker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Stryker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $393.65.

Stryker Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYK opened at $390.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Stryker Co. has a 1 year low of $285.79 and a 1 year high of $398.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $366.97 and its 200 day moving average is $350.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.91.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical technology company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.10. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $5.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Stryker Co. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.70, for a total transaction of $21,131,303.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,879,954.90. This trade represents a 36.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP M Kathryn Fink sold 2,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total transaction of $784,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,042 shares in the company, valued at $3,715,540. This trade represents a 17.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,781 shares of company stock valued at $24,612,275 over the last ninety days. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Stryker Company 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.