Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Shares Sold by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,519,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,161,000 after buying an additional 4,637 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 36,632.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 438,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $111,209,000 after buying an additional 437,397 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 16,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,281,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ITW shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $269.30.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 1.1 %

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $263.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $77.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $257.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.13. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $232.77 and a 52 week high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. On average, analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 51.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total value of $18,431,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.