Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA - Free Report) by 15.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,026 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,970 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.17% of Snap-on worth $25,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Snap-on by 4.5% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 4,179 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 5,097 shares of the company's stock worth $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Snap-on during the 3rd quarter worth $19,291,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Snap-on by 3.6% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 45,783 shares of the company's stock worth $13,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co bought a new position in Snap-on in the third quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors own 84.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SNA shares. Barrington Research upped their price objective on Snap-on from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Snap-on from $324.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Snap-on from $336.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Snap-on from $290.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Snap-on from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $345.40.

Insider Activity at Snap-on

In other Snap-on news, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 6,909 shares of Snap-on stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,994,210.16. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Iain Boyd sold 6,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.99, for a total transaction of $1,807,095.56. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,137,302.07. The trade was a 36.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,723 shares of company stock worth $18,029,670 over the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Snap-on Trading Up 1.8 %

Snap-on stock traded up $5.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $343.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,520,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 319,444. The firm has a market cap of $18.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.98. Snap-on Incorporated has a 12-month low of $252.98 and a 12-month high of $373.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 4.18 and a quick ratio of 3.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $345.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.11.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $4.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Snap-on had a net margin of 22.13% and a return on equity of 19.44%. Equities analysts forecast that Snap-on Incorporated will post 19.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Snap-on Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $2.14 per share. This is a positive change from Snap-on's previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $8.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Snap-on's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.06%.

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.