Captrust Financial Advisors Grows Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 41,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,521 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $10,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 336.0% during the 4th quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW opened at $240.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.54 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $243.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $256.08. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $214.66 and a 12 month high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.77%.

Insider Activity at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total transaction of $13,293,565.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,120,802.68. This represents a 46.78 % 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 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.67.

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.