Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) by 6.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 385 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Stanley Black & Decker were worth $413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,410,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,802,975,000 after buying an additional 1,250,925 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,397,348 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $137,094,000 after acquiring an additional 16,983 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Stanley Black & Decker during the fourth quarter worth approximately $133,952,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 980,833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,220,000 after purchasing an additional 13,557 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Stanley Black & Decker by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 971,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $95,264,000 after purchasing an additional 21,459 shares in the last quarter. 87.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stanley Black & Decker Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE SWK opened at $102.37 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.97. The stock has a market cap of $15.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -148.36, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.25. Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.26 and a twelve month high of $108.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.25. Stanley Black & Decker had a positive return on equity of 6.06% and a negative net margin of 1.87%. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.11) earnings per share. Stanley Black & Decker’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. will post 4.17 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 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is a positive change from Stanley Black & Decker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Stanley Black & Decker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -469.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SWK. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Stanley Black & Decker from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Stanley Black & Decker from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Insider Transactions at Stanley Black & Decker

In other Stanley Black & Decker news, SVP Janet Link sold 13,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total value of $1,404,863.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,320,963.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Stanley Black & Decker

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc provides hand tools, power tools, outdoor products, and related accessories in the United States, Canada, Other Americas, Europe, and Asia. Its Tools & Outdoor segment offers professional grade corded and cordless electric power tools and equipment, including drills, impact wrenches and drivers, grinders, saws, routers, and sanders; pneumatic tools and fasteners, such as nail guns, nails, staplers and staples, and concrete and masonry anchors; corded and cordless electric power tools; hand-held vacuums, paint tools, and cleaning appliances; leveling and layout tools, planes, hammers, demolition tools, clamps, vises, knives, saws, chisels, and industrial and automotive tools; drill, screwdriver, router bits, abrasives, saw blades, and threading products; tool boxes, sawhorses, medical cabinets, and engineered storage solutions; and electric and gas-powered lawn and garden products.