Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp Sells 50 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp lowered its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Illinois Tool Works makes up about 1.1% of Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $2,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $203,949,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 36,632.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 438,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,209,000 after purchasing an additional 437,397 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 318.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 405,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,352,000 after buying an additional 308,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,292,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,645,972,000 after acquiring an additional 167,422 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 2.3 %

ITW opened at $261.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $76.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $257.05 and a 200 day moving average of $259.68. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $232.77 and a 12 month high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total transaction of $18,431,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 260,224 shares in the company, valued at $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $269.30.

Illinois Tool Works Company Profile

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment in the United States and internationally. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products.