Short Interest in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) Rises By 22.9%

Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,880,000 shares, an increase of 22.9% from the April 30th total of 1,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 873,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Smith & Nephew

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 15.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,149 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 59.8% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,438 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 7,277 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Smith & Nephew by 49.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,771,401 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $50,255,000 after purchasing an additional 583,809 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in Smith & Nephew in the 1st quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 43.1% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 55,402 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $1,572,000 after acquiring an additional 16,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 25.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Smith & Nephew Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE SNN traded down $0.02 on Friday, reaching $30.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,322,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 795,391. The firm has a market cap of $13.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Smith & Nephew has a fifty-two week low of $23.69 and a fifty-two week high of $31.72.

About Smith & Nephew

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.