US Bancorp DE Cuts Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

US Bancorp DE lowered its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 274,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,835 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $69,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ITW. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $265.00 to $262.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $269.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total transaction of $18,431,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE ITW opened at $263.99 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $257.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.28. The company has a market capitalization of $77.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.11. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $232.77 and a 12 month high of $279.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. As a group, research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

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

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.