Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 1,314 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. $ITW

Key Points

• Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1.5% during Q2, owning a total of 83,909 shares valued at approximately $20.7 million.
• Illinois Tool Works announced a quarterly dividend of $1.61 per share, increasing from the previous $1.50, with a yield of 2.5%.
• Analysts have mixed forecasts for Illinois Tool Works, with price targets ranging from $243 to $283, and a current average rating of "Reduce".

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 83,909 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,314 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $20,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,528,833 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $627,176,000 after purchasing an additional 11,854 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,072,473 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $513,994,000 after purchasing an additional 13,354 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $5,123,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,057,872 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,059,119 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $522,110,000 after purchasing an additional 209,671 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,034,929 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $504,683,000 after purchasing an additional 91,359 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 6,802 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.08, for a total transaction of $1,803,074.16. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,734,035.12. This trade represents a 39.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI set a $265.00 price target on Illinois Tool Works and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Truist Financial downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $283.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $254.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays increased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $260.67.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock traded down $1.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $261.91. 1,915,447 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 779,570. The firm has a market cap of $76.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $214.66 and a 52-week high of $279.13. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $261.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.88.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 90.89% and a net margin of 21.31%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.54 earnings per share. Illinois Tool Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 10.350-10.550 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.61 per share. This is an increase from Illinois Tool Works's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Illinois Tool Works's payout ratio is 52.59%.

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.