J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 389.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 5,560 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 106,553.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,185,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,582,902,000 after purchasing an additional 7,178,474 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $708,259,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 59.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,591,278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,011,459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707,780 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,238,239 shares during the period. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $294,671,000 after purchasing an additional 675,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,235,056.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,235,056.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $9,851,485.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,404 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,844.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 189,471 shares of company stock valued at $48,712,316 in the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 0.7 %

ITW stock opened at $250.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.06 and a twelve month high of $271.15. The company’s 50 day moving average is $260.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.93. The stock has a market cap of $74.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 96.60%. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 57.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ITW shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Bank of America downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Illinois Tool Works in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.00.

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.