Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Decreases Stake in Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. reduced its stake in Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) by 69.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Stanley Black & Decker were worth $137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,911,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 5,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 20,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,664,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 61.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 521 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co raised its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 4,190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 87.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised shares of Stanley Black & Decker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $90.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Stanley Black & Decker in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $93.00 to $60.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Stanley Black & Decker presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.10.

Stanley Black & Decker Price Performance

Stanley Black & Decker stock opened at $65.23 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.24. Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.91 and a 1 year high of $110.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.07. Stanley Black & Decker had a net margin of 1.92% and a return on equity of 7.50%. The firm had revenue of $3.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stanley Black & Decker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.03%. Stanley Black & Decker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 136.10%.

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.