Hoey Investments Inc. Grows Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 993.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Hoey Investments Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $89,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $261,666,000 after purchasing an additional 39,445 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,344,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 8,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,108,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 39,704 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,405,000 after acquiring an additional 3,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% in the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 2,844 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total transaction of $13,293,565.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,120,802.68. This represents a 46.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $268.30.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $246.34 on Monday. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $258.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.83. The company has a market cap of $72.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. 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, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s 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.