California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Holdings in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 91,496 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,964 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Snap-on were worth $31,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SNA. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Snap-on by 16.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,671,000 after buying an additional 8,073 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Snap-on by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Snap-on by 3.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 8,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,532,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Snap-on by 1,035.0% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,519,000 after purchasing an additional 7,928 shares during the period. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co grew its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 27.4% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 1,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Snap-on

In other news, SVP Jesus Arregui sold 6,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.81, for a total transaction of $2,179,212.31. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,817.17. The trade was a 96.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nicholas T. Pinchuk sold 22,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.32, for a total transaction of $7,611,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 793,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $266,221,278.24. The trade was a 2.78 % 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 valued at $12,116,859 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Snap-on Price Performance

NYSE SNA opened at $342.26 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Snap-on Incorporated has a 52-week low of $252.98 and a 52-week high of $373.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 4.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $339.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $334.80.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 prior year, the firm posted $4.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Snap-on Incorporated will post 19.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Snap-on Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $2.14 per share. This represents a $8.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Snap-on’s payout ratio is 43.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Longbow Research raised shares of Snap-on from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Snap-on in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Snap-on from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Snap-on has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.33.

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.