Syon Capital LLC Raises Stake in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN)

Syon Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN - Free Report) by 89.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,250 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,534 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC's holdings in Smith & Nephew were worth $498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 87.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,480 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Smith & Nephew during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 36.5% in 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. Hara Capital LLC raised its stake in Smith & Nephew by 391.4% in the fourth quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Smith & Nephew by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,975 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 25.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SNN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Smith & Nephew from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Smith & Nephew from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. HSBC cut Smith & Nephew from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Smith & Nephew in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smith & Nephew currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Smith & Nephew Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SNN traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.65. 928,869 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 823,199. Smith & Nephew plc has a twelve month low of $23.69 and a twelve month high of $31.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.32. The stock has a market cap of $11.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.71.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.447 dividend. This is an increase from Smith & Nephew's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a yield of 2.5%. Smith & Nephew's 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.