ICW Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $2,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Steele Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 4.9% during the second quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. now owns 863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,390 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 3,334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 3.0% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carson Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 3.0% during the first quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 1,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on ITW shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $268.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $283.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $250.22.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

NYSE:ITW traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $243.54. The stock had a trading volume of 73,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,116,559. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $217.50 and a one year high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 99.74% and a net margin of 19.15%. The company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Illinois Tool Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is presently 59.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. acquired 775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 121,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,018,062.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.