AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 533,725 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 118,389 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Illinois Tool Works worth $135,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,326,996 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,675,473,000 after purchasing an additional 94,601 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,667,653 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,465,570,000 after buying an additional 508,188 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,392,021 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,620,491,000 after buying an additional 99,753 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,132,493 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,047,837,000 after acquiring an additional 71,934 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,443,251 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $873,071,000 after acquiring an additional 95,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total transaction of $11,249,280.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. O'herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 159,925 shares of company stock valued at $42,973,845 over the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $257.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.73.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 1.3 %

Illinois Tool Works stock traded up $3.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $242.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,543,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,008,101. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $245.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.50. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $214.66 and a 12 month high of $279.13. The stock has a market cap of $71.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, 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.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Illinois Tool Works's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Illinois Tool Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.19%.

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.