Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 280,593 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,314 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.53% of Snap-on worth $81,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aurora Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of Snap-on by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 3,549 shares of the company's stock worth $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Snap-on by 3.1% during the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Snap-on by 1.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 1,691 shares of the company's stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Snap-on by 3.1% in the third quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Snap-on by 2.5% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SNA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Snap-on from $324.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Snap-on from $290.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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 research report on Friday, October 18th. Barrington Research boosted their price target on Snap-on from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Snap-on from $336.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $345.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 6,909 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.62, for a total value of $2,401,706.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,994,210.16. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nicholas T. Pinchuk sold 21,783 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.83, for a total value of $7,729,261.89. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 769,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $273,126,134.54. This represents a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,723 shares of company stock valued at $18,029,670. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Snap-on Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of SNA traded up $5.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $343.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,520,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 319,444. Snap-on Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $252.98 and a fifty-two week high of $373.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $346.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.86. The stock has a market cap of $18.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 4.18, a quick ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

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

Snap-on Increases Dividend

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

Snap-on 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.