Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Lowers Stock Holdings in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lessened its position in shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,239 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,185 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Snap-on were worth $21,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Snap-on in the fourth quarter worth $512,000. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Snap-on by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 102,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,962,000 after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 45,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Snap-on during the 3rd quarter valued at about $19,291,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Snap-on during the fourth quarter worth about $1,936,000. 84.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Snap-on

In other news, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 6,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.05, for a total value of $2,325,883.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,310,898.80. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nicholas T. Pinchuk sold 22,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.32, for a total transaction of $7,611,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 793,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,221,278.24. The trade was a 2.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,011 shares of company stock worth $12,116,859 in the last three months. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SNA shares. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Snap-on in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Snap-on from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $346.40.

Snap-on Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of SNA opened at $329.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Snap-on Incorporated has a 1 year low of $252.98 and a 1 year high of $373.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $340.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $333.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 4.15 and a quick ratio of 3.17.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $4.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.78 by $0.04. Snap-on had a net margin of 21.71% and a return on equity of 19.20%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.75 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $2.14 dividend. This represents a $8.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Snap-on’s payout ratio is 43.90%.

About Snap-on

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.