Americana Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Americana Partners LLC reduced its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 77.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,092 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,315 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC's holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 3.7% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 9,666 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,070 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 54.7% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,859 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,407 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 70.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 746 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Illinois Tool Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $240.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $238.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $247.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at $56,235,056.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at $56,235,056.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total value of $9,851,485.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,299,844.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316 over the last three months. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW traded down $0.90 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $262.04. 767,746 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,262,316. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.44. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.06 and a twelve month high of $271.15. The firm has a market cap of $78.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 96.60%. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works's payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

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.