Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) Shares Sold by Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC reduced its position in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) by 46.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,104,505 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,844,022 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in Smith & Nephew were worth $51,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position 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 valued at $1,849,000 after buying an additional 52,411 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 136,438 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,354,000 after purchasing an additional 9,118 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in Smith & Nephew in the fourth quarter valued at about $433,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Smith & Nephew by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 89,682 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,204,000 after buying an additional 10,398 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 15,772 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 25.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SNN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Smith & Nephew in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Smith & Nephew Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SNN opened at $28.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.96. 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 plc has a 12-month low of $23.65 and a 12-month high of $31.72.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.447 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend payout ratio is 41.20%.

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.