LPL Financial LLC Purchases 36,600 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 36,600 shares and holding a total of 506,778 shares worth approximately $125.7 million.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Northern Trust Corp, also boosted their holdings in Illinois Tool Works, contributing to institutional ownership of 79.77% of the company's stock.
• The stock currently has mixed analyst ratings, with one firm downgrading it to "underperform" and a consensus target price of $255.67, while recent financial performance showed a 3.4% revenue decline year-over-year.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 506,778 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,600 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.17% of Illinois Tool Works worth $125,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,667,653 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,465,570,000 after buying an additional 508,188 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% in the 4th 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 during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,132,493 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,047,837,000 after buying an additional 71,934 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 buying an additional 2,057,872 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased 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 buying an additional 209,671 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ITW. Bank of America downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $302.00 to $284.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $269.00 to $234.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $239.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $255.67.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:ITW opened at $259.95 on Tuesday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $214.66 and a fifty-two week high of $279.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $250.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.02.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 92.77%. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. The company's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Illinois Tool Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. purchased 872 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $241.16 per share, for a total transaction of $210,291.52. Following the acquisition, the director owned 122,884 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,634,705.44. This represents a 0.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

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.

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