Blair William & Co. IL Boosts Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. by 4.2%, bringing its total ownership to 444,852 shares valued at approximately $110.3 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Illinois Tool Works, with UBS Group raising its target from $243 to $255 and Bank of America downgrading their rating to "underperform" with a target price of $220.
• Illinois Tool Works has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.61 per share, reflecting a yield of 2.6%, and will be paid on October 10th to shareholders of record.

Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 444,852 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,084 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.15% of Illinois Tool Works worth $110,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 26,372.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,065,675 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,123,080,000 after buying an additional 2,057,872 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 55,978.4% during the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,430,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $354,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427,450 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 263.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 903,710 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $229,269,000 after purchasing an additional 655,341 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 508,188 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1,899.3% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 224,921 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,031,000 after purchasing an additional 213,671 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $239.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $237.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $259.08.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $251.91 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.12. The stock has a market cap of $73.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.09. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $214.66 and a 12-month high of $279.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.02. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.31% and a return on equity of 90.89%. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.54 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.61 per share. This represents a $6.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from Illinois Tool Works's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Illinois Tool Works's payout ratio is currently 52.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. purchased 872 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $241.16 per share, for a total transaction of $210,291.52. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 122,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,634,705.44. The trade was a 0.71% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

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.

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