Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,097 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $12,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth $818,408,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,951,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $773,234,000 after buying an additional 122,840 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,350,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $353,715,000 after buying an additional 26,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,125,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $294,671,000 after buying an additional 675,000 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on ITW shares. StockNews.com raised Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial cut their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $305.00 to $283.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays cut their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $229.00 to $217.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.00.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

NYSE:ITW traded down $2.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $233.75. 413,531 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,177,478. The firm has a market cap of $69.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.10. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.50 and a 52 week high of $271.15. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.26. 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 (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 55.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. purchased 775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 121,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,018,062.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

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.