Traders Buy High Volume of Stanley Black & Decker Put Options (NYSE:SWK)

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 5,778 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 216% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,830 put options.

Institutional Trading of Stanley Black & Decker

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Americana Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 180.5% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 112,889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,064,000 after acquiring an additional 72,637 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Stanley Black & Decker during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,386,000. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Stanley Black & Decker during the fourth quarter worth about $1,287,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 6.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,062,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $998,107,000 after purchasing an additional 549,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 40.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 923,118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,663,000 after purchasing an additional 267,723 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.77% of the company’s stock.

Stanley Black & Decker Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE SWK opened at $62.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.24. Stanley Black & Decker has a 12 month low of $57.77 and a 12 month high of $110.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.25.

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.21. Stanley Black & Decker had a net margin of 1.92% and a return on equity of 7.50%. On average, analysts predict that Stanley Black & Decker will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stanley Black & Decker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Stanley Black & Decker’s payout ratio is 169.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on SWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Stanley Black & Decker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Stanley Black & Decker in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. Mizuho upgraded shares of Stanley Black & Decker from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $94.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.20.

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.