Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) Shares Acquired by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) by 1.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,050 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Snap-on were worth $1,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Snap-on in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Snap-on in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Snap-on during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in Snap-on by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 127 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Snap-on by 244.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 162 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 84.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 4,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.74, for a total value of $1,246,804.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,244 shares in the company, valued at $27,663,272.56. This trade represents a 4.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Thomas J. Ward sold 12,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.21, for a total value of $4,244,095.77. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,460,167.21. The trade was a 18.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,190 shares of company stock valued at $8,212,284. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Snap-on Stock Down 0.2 %

SNA stock opened at $357.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $309.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.07. Snap-on Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $252.98 and a fifty-two week high of $365.35. The company has a quick ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $4.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Snap-on had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 22.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Snap-on Incorporated will post 19.05 EPS for the current year.

Snap-on announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, August 8th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Snap-on Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $2.14 per share. This represents a $8.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Snap-on’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. Snap-on’s payout ratio is 38.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SNA. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Snap-on from $290.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Snap-on from $324.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Snap-on from $336.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Snap-on from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barrington Research upped their target price on Snap-on from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $345.40.

Snap-on Company Profile

Snap-on Incorporated manufactures and markets tools, equipment, diagnostics, and repair information and systems solutions for professional users worldwide. It operates through Commercial & Industrial Group, Snap-on Tools Group, Repair Systems & Information Group, and Financial Services segments.