Howard Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK)

Howard Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,812 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $370,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 126.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,485,421 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $440,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,063,114 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Stanley Black & Decker by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,139,196 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $332,336,000 after purchasing an additional 763,219 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Stanley Black & Decker by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,215,765 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $177,905,000 after purchasing an additional 679,359 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Stanley Black & Decker by 7,765.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 582,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $46,772,000 after purchasing an additional 575,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 590.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 435,295 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $34,950,000 after acquiring an additional 372,247 shares during the period. 87.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Stanley Black & Decker Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of SWK stock traded down $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $66.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,193,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,234,789. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $68.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.18. Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.91 and a 1-year high of $110.88.

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.70. Stanley Black & Decker had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Stanley Black & Decker Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from Stanley Black & Decker's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Stanley Black & Decker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 136.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $90.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Stanley Black & Decker in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Stanley Black & Decker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.10.

About Stanley Black & Decker

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc engages in the provision of power and hand tools, and related accessories, products, services and equipment for oil and gas, infrastructure applications, commercial electronic security and monitoring systems, healthcare solutions, and mechanical access solutions. It operates through the Tools and Outdoor and Industrial segments.