Sapient Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 6,456 Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,456 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,700,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,986 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 65,972 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,194,000 after purchasing an additional 9,613 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 373 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.1% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 66,304 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,271,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001 shares during the period. Finally, SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 32.5% during the third quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW traded up $1.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $243.92. 929,954 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,218,462. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $258.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $251.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.06 and a 12 month high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.82% and a net margin of 19.07%. Illinois Tool Works's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Illinois Tool Works's payout ratio is 55.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ITW. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $257.78.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total transaction of $1,493,401.83. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,273,292.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction 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 approximately $12,299,844.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total transaction of $1,493,401.83. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,870 shares in the company, valued at $2,273,292.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 139,471 shares of company stock valued at $35,970,816. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

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.