Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 155,208 Shares of Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) by 39.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 235,440 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 155,208 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Smith & Nephew were worth $5,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Smith & Nephew by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 535,350 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $13,159,000 after acquiring an additional 57,014 shares during the last quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smith & Nephew in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,598,000. StoneX Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Smith & Nephew in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,897,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Smith & Nephew by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,667 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 229.8% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,215 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,849,000 after buying an additional 52,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 25.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Smith & Nephew in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Smith & Nephew Stock Up 3.2 %

SNN stock opened at $25.84 on Monday. Smith & Nephew plc has a 1-year low of $23.65 and a 1-year high of $31.72. The stock has a market cap of $11.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

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