Lincoln National Corp Grows Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Lincoln National Corp grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,180,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,401,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Ziegler Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,972,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ITW. Bank of America cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $230.00 to $229.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $303.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $257.78.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

ITW opened at $247.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $73.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.40, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $258.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $252.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.06 and a 52-week high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.82% and a net margin of 19.07%. The company had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 55.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total value of $1,493,401.83. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,273,292.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $2,273,292.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total value of $205,392.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,248,816 in the last 90 days. 1.26% of the stock is owned by 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.