Wexford Capital LP Invests $541,000 in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN)

Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 22,000 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Smith & Nephew by 229.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,215 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,849,000 after purchasing an additional 52,411 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 17,557 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 2,798 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smith & Nephew in the fourth quarter worth about $431,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,871 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of Smith & Nephew in the fourth quarter worth about $4,847,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 25.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SNN. UBS Group downgraded Smith & Nephew from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Smith & Nephew from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC cut Smith & Nephew from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Smith & Nephew from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Smith & Nephew from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Smith & Nephew Trading Up 0.9%

Smith & Nephew stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 948,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 800,456. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.68. Smith & Nephew plc has a 1 year low of $23.69 and a 1 year 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $27.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.37.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

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