Howard Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Howard Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SNA. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Snap-on by 70.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 75 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Snap-on during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Snap-on during the third quarter worth $30,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Snap-on during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Snap-on by 38.2% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 217 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Snap-on in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Snap-on currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $345.40.

Snap-on Stock Performance

Shares of SNA stock opened at $336.11 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $343.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.38. The company has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 4.15, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Snap-on Incorporated has a 12-month low of $252.98 and a 12-month high of $373.89.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.78 by $0.04. Snap-on had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 21.71%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.75 EPS. Analysts expect that Snap-on Incorporated will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Snap-on Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a $2.14 dividend. This represents a $8.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Snap-on’s payout ratio is 43.90%.

Insider Activity at Snap-on

In related news, VP June C. Lemerand sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.86, for a total value of $1,270,010.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $830,586.54. This represents a 60.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 6,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.62, for a total value of $2,401,706.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,994,210.16. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,503 shares of company stock valued at $15,906,074 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

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.