Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 1,856 Shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA - Free Report) by 45.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,906 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,856 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC's holdings in Snap-on were worth $2,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SNA. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Snap-on by 70.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 75 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Snap-on in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Snap-on in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Snap-on during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Snap-on during the third quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP June C. Lemerand sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at $830,586.54. The trade was a 60.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nicholas T. Pinchuk sold 21,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.83, for a total transaction of $7,729,261.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 769,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $273,126,134.54. This represents a 2.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,643 shares of company stock worth $13,580,191 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SNA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Snap-on from $290.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Snap-on from $336.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on Snap-on from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Snap-on from $324.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Snap-on in a research report on Monday. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Snap-on has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $345.40.

Snap-on Stock Performance

SNA stock traded up $4.84 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $339.73. The stock had a trading volume of 294,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,621. 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 50-day simple moving average of $345.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $320.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.99. Snap-on Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $252.98 and a fifty-two week high of $373.89.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $4.75 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Snap-on Incorporated will post 20.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Snap-on Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $2.14 per share. This represents a $8.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Snap-on's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.90%.

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.