Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 220,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 12,944 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Illinois Tool Works worth $55,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.0% in the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% in the third quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 3,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 9,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ITW shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $269.10.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of ITW opened at $254.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.34. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $232.77 and a 1-year high of $279.13. The stock has a market cap of $74.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.19%.

Insider Transactions at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total value of $13,293,565.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,120,802.68. The trade was a 46.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total transaction of $18,431,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 a total of 159,925 shares of company stock valued at $42,973,845 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.