Bailard Inc. Grows Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Bailard Inc. grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $3,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ITW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,205,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,035,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,239 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,125,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $294,671,000 after acquiring an additional 675,000 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 23,183.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 315,260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,579,000 after acquiring an additional 313,906 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 77.5% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 597,186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $137,538,000 after acquiring an additional 260,679 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 57.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 699,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $161,131,000 after acquiring an additional 254,321 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In related news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total transaction of $1,493,401.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,273,292.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $205,392.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW traded down $3.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $248.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 688,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,239,339. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.06 and a 12-month high of $271.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $260.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market cap of $74.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 96.60% and a net margin of 18.36%. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 2.25%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on ITW shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $240.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays increased 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, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $257.00.

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.