Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Sells 920 Shares of Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC reduced its position in Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 920 shares during the quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Stanley Black & Decker were worth $1,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SWK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,938,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $971,926,000 after acquiring an additional 5,384,051 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Stanley Black & Decker by 113,894.9% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,804,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $360,943,000 after buying an additional 4,800,671 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,623,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,603,393,000 after buying an additional 2,774,661 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,260,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,785,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $949,648,000 after acquiring an additional 874,617 shares in the last quarter. 90.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stanley Black & Decker

In other news, SVP Janet Link sold 3,081 shares of Stanley Black & Decker stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.76, for a total transaction of $304,279.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,228,464.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Stanley Black & Decker Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE SWK traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $87.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,292,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,089,269. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $94.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.71. The company has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.24 and a 12 month high of $104.21.

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.36) by $0.25. Stanley Black & Decker had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 0.26%. The business had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stanley Black & Decker Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 5th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 1st. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. This is a boost from Stanley Black & Decker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Stanley Black & Decker’s payout ratio is currently 63.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SWK shares. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Stanley Black & Decker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Stanley Black & Decker from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Stanley Black & Decker from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded Stanley Black & Decker from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Stanley Black & Decker from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.36.

About Stanley Black & Decker

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc engages in the tools and storage and industrial businesses in the United States, Canada, rest of Americas, France, rest of Europe, and Asia. Its Tools & Storage segment offers professional products, including professional grade corded and cordless electric power tools and equipment, and pneumatic tools and fasteners; and consumer products, such as corded and cordless electric power tools primarily under the BLACK+DECKER brand, as well as corded and cordless lawn and garden products and related accessories; home products; and hand tools, power tool accessories, and storage products.