Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Shares Purchased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. by 2.3% to a total of 225,816 shares, now valued at approximately $56 million.
• Director David Byron Smith, Jr. purchased 872 shares of Illinois Tool Works at an average price of $241.16 per share, raising his ownership to 122,884 shares.
• Illinois Tool Works announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.37%.

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 225,816 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,114 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.08% of Illinois Tool Works worth $56,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ITW. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 26,372.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted 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 buying an additional 1,427,450 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 655,341 shares during the period. 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. lifted its stake in 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 worth $57,031,000 after acquiring an additional 213,671 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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 cut their price objective 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. Bank of America downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $259.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In related news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. acquired 872 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 122,884 shares in the company, valued at $29,634,705.44. This trade represents a 0.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

ITW stock traded down $4.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $251.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,236,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 992,529. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.09. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $214.66 and a one year high of $279.13. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $251.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.14.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.02. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 90.89% and a net margin of 21.31%. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.54 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $1.61 per share. This is a boost from Illinois Tool Works's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Illinois Tool Works's payout ratio is currently 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.