CWA Asset Management Group LLC Grows Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW – Get Rating) by 22.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,570 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank OZK boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 0.9% in the third quarter. Bank OZK now owns 5,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $915,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 16.0% in the third quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 348 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 6,745 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,218,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.5% in the third quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,420 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ITW. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $174.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Illinois Tool Works in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $170.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Vertical Research cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Vice Chairman Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 60,137 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.26, for a total transaction of $14,809,337.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 40,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,868,130.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Ernest Scott Santi sold 235,656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.29, for a total transaction of $58,039,716.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,592,274.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 60,137 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.26, for a total transaction of $14,809,337.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,868,130.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.2 %

ITW stock opened at $229.81 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $234.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.85. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $173.52 and a fifty-two week high of $253.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $70.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by ($0.26). Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.04% and a return on equity of 87.15%. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 53.58%.

About Illinois Tool Works

(Get Rating)

Illinois Tool Works, Inc engages in the manufacture of industrial products and equipment. It operates through the following segments: Automotive OEM, Test and Measurement and Electronics, Food Equipment, Polymers and Fluids, Welding, Construction Products, and Specialty Products. The Automotive OEM segment produces components and fasteners for automotive-related applications.