Clune & Associates LTD. Buys New Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Clune & Associates LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

ITW stock opened at $255.86 on Tuesday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $232.77 and a 1 year high of $279.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.66.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $269.10.

Insider Transactions at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total transaction of $11,249,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 50,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,698,667.50. This trade represents a 45.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total transaction of $13,293,565.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,120,802.68. This represents a 46.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845 in 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.