Atria Investments Inc Lowers Position in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN)

Atria Investments Inc lessened its stake in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,515 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,150 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Smith & Nephew were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clark Estates Inc. NY lifted its position in shares of Smith & Nephew by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Clark Estates Inc. NY now owns 800,000 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,664,000 after buying an additional 115,000 shares in the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Smith & Nephew by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233,155 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,731,000 after buying an additional 2,160 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Smith & Nephew during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,200,000. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of Smith & Nephew during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,847,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Smith & Nephew by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 143,846 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after buying an additional 1,889 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 25.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SNN shares. UBS Group lowered Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Smith & Nephew in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smith & Nephew has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

Smith & Nephew Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of SNN opened at $28.59 on Friday. Smith & Nephew plc has a 52-week low of $23.65 and a 52-week high of $31.72. The company has a market capitalization of $12.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.447 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Smith & Nephew’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.29. This represents a dividend yield of 2.5%. Smith & Nephew’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.20%.

Smith & Nephew Company Profile

Smith & Nephew plc engages in the development, manufacture, marketing, and sale of medical devices. It operates through the following segments: Orthopaedics, Sports Medicine and ENT, and Advanced Wound Management. The Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine and ENT segment consists of the following businesses: knee implants, hip implants, other reconstruction, trauma, sports medicine joint repair, arthroscopic enabling technologies, and ENT.