Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Buys 217 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $269.10.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 2.6 %

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $267.47 on Tuesday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $232.77 and a one year high of $279.13. The stock has a market cap of $78.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $257.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $260.30.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 51.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 260,224 shares in the company, valued at $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.