Putney Financial Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clarity Financial LLC bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $315,000. Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $941,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $739,000. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,096,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 42.2% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,718 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 $15,120,802.68. This trade represents a 46.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total value of $11,249,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,698,667.50. The trade was a 45.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ITW. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $302.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $252.00 to $249.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $239.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given 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, Illinois Tool Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.42.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $242.03 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $241.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.78. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $214.66 and a 52 week high of $279.13. 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 market capitalization of $70.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.77%.

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.