Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 1,066 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,066 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $6,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ITW. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 6,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $952,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ITW shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $303.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $257.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 45,676 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.12, for a total value of $11,698,537.12. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at $56,606,361.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total value of $1,493,401.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,870 shares in the company, valued at $2,273,292.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 45,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.12, for a total transaction of $11,698,537.12. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at $56,606,361.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 89,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,248,816. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW traded up $1.95 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $247.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 706,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,367. The stock has a market cap of $73.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $258.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.06 and a 1 year high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.07% and a return on equity of 97.82%. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.29 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, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.23%.

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.