Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Has $951,000 Stock Position in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC cut its position in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) by 44.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,710 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 31,139 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Smith & Nephew were worth $951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,032,016 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $49,947,000 after acquiring an additional 792,829 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Smith & Nephew by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,363,039 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $33,504,000 after purchasing an additional 138,994 shares in the last quarter. Clark Estates Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Smith & Nephew by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Clark Estates Inc. NY now owns 800,000 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $19,664,000 after purchasing an additional 115,000 shares in the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Smith & Nephew by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233,155 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Smith & Nephew in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,200,000. 25.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smith & Nephew Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE SNN opened at $28.01 on Tuesday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.02. Smith & Nephew plc has a 12 month low of $23.65 and a 12 month high of $31.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.83.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 shares of Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Smith & Nephew in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Smith & Nephew has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

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.