Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $6.94 Million Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,510 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,441 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $6,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,205,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,035,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,239 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,829,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,954,691,000 after acquiring an additional 244,145 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 106,553.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,185,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,582,902,000 after purchasing an additional 7,178,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,899,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,578,299,000 after purchasing an additional 97,568 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 12.1% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,611,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,363,875,000 after purchasing an additional 607,321 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total transaction of $1,493,401.83. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,273,292.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $9,851,485.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,844.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total value of $1,493,401.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,273,292.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ITW. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.00.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE ITW opened at $248.83 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $260.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.65. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.06 and a 12-month high of $271.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The company has a market cap of $74.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.01. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 96.60% and a net margin of 18.36%. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.49%.

About Illinois Tool Works

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.