Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 19,081 Shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 299,674 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,081 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.57% of Snap-on worth $101,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SNA. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Snap-on by 70.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 75 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Snap-on during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Snap-on during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Snap-on during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Snap-on during the 3rd quarter worth about $58,000. 84.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 6,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.62, for a total transaction of $2,401,706.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,994,210.16. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jesus Arregui sold 6,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.81, for a total value of $2,179,212.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,817.17. This trade represents a 96.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,643 shares of company stock valued at $13,580,191. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Snap-on Stock Performance

Shares of SNA stock opened at $342.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 4.15 and a quick ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market cap of $17.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $345.04 and a 200-day moving average of $322.05. Snap-on Incorporated has a one year low of $252.98 and a one year high of $373.89.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Snap-on Incorporated will post 20.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Snap-on Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $2.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $8.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Snap-on’s payout ratio is 43.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on SNA shares. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Snap-on in a report on Monday, February 10th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Snap-on from $324.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on Snap-on from $336.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $345.40.

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.