MCF Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

MCF Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,845 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PEAK6 Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the first quarter worth $1,147,000. Norden Group LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1,889.1% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 26,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,103,000 after purchasing an additional 25,144 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 213,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,821,000 after purchasing an additional 12,065 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 78.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 36,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,907,000 after buying an additional 16,216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ITW shares. Argus raised shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial cut their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $283.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $268.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $250.22.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.7 %

ITW stock opened at $243.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $243.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $248.92. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.50 and a 52-week high of $271.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 99.74% and a net margin of 19.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Illinois Tool Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is 59.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. bought 775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 121,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,018,062.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.