Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Shares Purchased by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 178,766 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.06% of Illinois Tool Works worth $45,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 7,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,876,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $358,321,000 after acquiring an additional 398,676 shares during the period. Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at $1,729,000. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 58,265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,774,000 after purchasing an additional 3,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 36,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,680,000 after purchasing an additional 3,903 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $269.10.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW opened at $254.72 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $257.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.27. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $232.77 and a 1-year high of $279.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $74.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total transaction of $13,293,565.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,120,802.68. The trade was a 46.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total value of $11,249,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,698,667.50. This trade represents a 45.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 159,925 shares of company stock valued at $42,973,845. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Illinois Tool Works 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.