Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 1,170 Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth about $4,180,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 23.4% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Ziegler Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $224,000. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 135,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,506,000 after buying an additional 10,062 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth about $1,770,000. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ITW. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $238.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Bank of America cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $215.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.50.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $268.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,132,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,297,507. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.06 and a twelve month high of $271.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $260.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 96.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Illinois Tool Works 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 transaction of $12,722,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,235,056.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,505,185.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at $56,235,056.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.