M. Kraus & Co Reduces Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

M. Kraus & Co lessened its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 511 shares during the period. Illinois Tool Works comprises 3.2% of M. Kraus & Co’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. M. Kraus & Co’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $10,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 25.8% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 12,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,022,000 after buying an additional 2,617 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 5.7% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,362 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 9.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,527,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $361,998,000 after acquiring an additional 133,853 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 83.8% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 16,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,002,000 after purchasing an additional 7,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ITW shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI lowered Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $270.11.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $252.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $265.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.30. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $232.77 and a 12 month high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 97.06%. The company had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.90%.

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.