Cascade Financial Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Cascade Financial Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Cascade Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $2,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ITW. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth about $203,949,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 36,632.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 438,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $111,209,000 after purchasing an additional 437,397 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 318.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 405,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,352,000 after buying an additional 308,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,292,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,645,972,000 after buying an additional 167,422 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total transaction of $11,249,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,502 shares in the company, valued at $13,698,667.50. This trade represents a 45.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total value of $18,431,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITW has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $269.10.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of ITW stock opened at $255.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $257.83 and a 200 day moving average of $260.36. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $232.77 and a 52 week high of $279.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. As a group, research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.19%.

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.