Madison Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Madison Asset Management LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,383 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC's holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $4,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Close Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 635 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,451 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 154,285 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $38,461,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,131,000. Finally, PFG Advisors raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 58.0% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 8,910 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,210,000 after acquiring an additional 3,271 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lowered 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $239.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $252.00 to $249.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $255.67.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock traded up $0.04 on Friday, hitting $261.87. 1,092,980 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 879,734. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $214.66 and a 12-month high of $279.13. The company has a market cap of $76.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $250.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Illinois Tool Works's payout ratio is currently 52.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Illinois Tool Works Company 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.