Exeter Financial LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Exeter Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 2.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 57.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,341,000 after buying an additional 4,523 shares in the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,355,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2,288.1% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 2,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 387.5% in the 1st quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.5 %

ITW traded down $1.31 on Thursday, hitting $237.57. The company had a trading volume of 272,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,168,107. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $244.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.03. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.50 and a 1 year high of $271.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market cap of $70.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.11.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is presently 55.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $229.00 to $217.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $256.44.

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.