Shufro Rose & Co. LLC Reduces Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Shufro Rose & Co. LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 515 shares during the period. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $6,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,205,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,035,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,239 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,125,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $294,671,000 after purchasing an additional 675,000 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 23,183.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 315,260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,579,000 after purchasing an additional 313,906 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 77.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 597,186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $137,538,000 after buying an additional 260,679 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 57.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 699,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $161,131,000 after acquiring an additional 254,321 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $277.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.00.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ITW traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $248.28. The company had a trading volume of 947,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,023,968. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $217.06 and a one year high of $271.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $260.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 57.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,404 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,844.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,870 shares in the company, valued at $2,273,292.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $9,851,485.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,299,844.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316 over the last 90 days. 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.