Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) by 23.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,089 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 26,991 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Smith & Nephew were worth $2,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Smith & Nephew Price Performance

NYSE SNN opened at $25.84 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $27.37 and its 200 day moving average is $26.58. Smith & Nephew plc has a fifty-two week low of $23.65 and a fifty-two week high of $31.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.71.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.447 per share. This is a boost from Smith & Nephew’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.29. This represents a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Smith & Nephew’s payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Smith & Nephew 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.