Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Shares Sold by Guardian Investment Management

Guardian Investment Management reduced its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 836 shares during the quarter. Illinois Tool Works makes up approximately 2.1% of Guardian Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $2,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 0.5% during the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 8,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,856,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 4.5% during the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. PFG Advisors lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 6,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $952,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ITW. Truist Financial began coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total transaction of $205,392.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,235,056.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total value of $205,392.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316 in the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of ITW stock traded down $0.90 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $248.64. The company had a trading volume of 390,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,013. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.33. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.06 and a twelve month high of $271.15. The company has a market capitalization of $74.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $260.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.66.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 96.60% and a net margin of 18.36%. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.49%.

Illinois Tool Works Company 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.