Vicus Capital Purchases Shares of 801 Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Vicus Capital purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.4% in 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 buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth $4,180,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 213,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,821,000 after purchasing an additional 12,065 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ziegler Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $229.00 to $217.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $256.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. bought 775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 121,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,018,062.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of ITW stock opened at $236.96 on Friday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $217.50 and a one year high of $271.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $243.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.11.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released 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 net margin of 19.07% and a return on equity of 97.82%. The company had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.23%.

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.