Boston Partners Raises Position in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN)

Boston Partners lifted its stake in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 89,682 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,398 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Smith & Nephew were worth $2,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Smith & Nephew by 87.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,480 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Smith & Nephew in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Hara Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Smith & Nephew by 391.4% in the 4th quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,975 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,871 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 25.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on SNN shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Smith & Nephew in a research note on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com raised Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Smith & Nephew Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of SNN opened at $28.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $26.77 and a 200 day moving average of $27.09. Smith & Nephew plc has a 1-year low of $23.65 and a 1-year high of $31.72.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.447 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Smith & Nephew’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.29. Smith & Nephew’s payout ratio is currently 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.