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

MCF Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 32.8% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $827,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 35,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,371,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 21.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 71,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,843,000 after buying an additional 12,496 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 71.7% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 34,889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,267,000 after purchasing an additional 14,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 20,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,845,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ITW. Evercore ISI downgraded Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $270.11.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of ITW stock opened at $261.31 on Wednesday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $232.77 and a 1-year high of $279.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $263.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.87. The firm has a market cap of $77.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.60, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 51.90%.

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.