Ariel Investments LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Ariel Investments LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,292 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,101 shares during the quarter. Ariel Investments LLC owned 0.08% of Snap-on worth $13,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SNA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Snap-on by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,404,599 shares of the company's stock worth $2,174,233,000 after buying an additional 19,328 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Snap-on by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,819,403 shares of the company's stock worth $617,651,000 after acquiring an additional 411,317 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Snap-on by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,806,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $613,195,000 after buying an additional 77,486 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Snap-on by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,641,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $556,022,000 after purchasing an additional 27,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Snap-on by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,128,317 shares of the company's stock worth $384,813,000 after purchasing an additional 127,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Snap-on from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Snap-on from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Snap-on in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Longbow Research upgraded Snap-on from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Snap-on from $349.00 to $320.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Snap-on presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $350.83.

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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at $36,310,898.80. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 in the company, valued at approximately $86,817.17. This trade represents a 96.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,011 shares of company stock worth $12,116,859 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Snap-on Stock Performance

SNA stock traded down $2.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $311.63. 314,098 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 359,607. Snap-on Incorporated has a 12 month low of $252.98 and a 12 month high of $373.90. The company has a current ratio of 4.15, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $324.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $339.05.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The company reported $4.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.81 by ($0.30). Snap-on had a net margin of 21.71% and a return on equity of 19.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.91 earnings per share. 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 will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a $2.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $8.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Snap-on's payout ratio is 44.82%.

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.