Vestor Capital LLC Buys 13,935 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. $ITW

Vestor Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 2,538.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,935 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $3,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 7.7% during the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 29,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,005,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $782,343,000 after buying an additional 72,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 83.2% during the 1st quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 33,712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,775,000 after buying an additional 15,315 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ITW. Evercore dropped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $296.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $281.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jennifer F. Scanlon acquired 806 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $247.99 per share, with a total value of $199,879.94. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 1,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $409,679.48. This represents a 95.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $283.87 on Friday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $238.82 and a 1-year high of $303.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $265.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 1.00.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 101.72% and a net margin of 19.39%.The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Illinois Tool Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.350-11.550 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 11.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $1.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.80%.

About Illinois Tool Works

Illinois Tool Works Inc (ITW) is a diversified industrial manufacturer that designs and produces a broad array of engineered products, consumables and related service solutions for industrial customers. Its offerings span engineered fastening systems, specialty components, industrial equipment, welding products, foodservice and packaging equipment, adhesives and polymer products, and test-and-measurement technologies. These products are used as critical inputs by customers across automotive, construction, electronics, foodservice, maintenance and other industrial end markets.

The company operates a decentralized business model in which independently managed businesses focus on niche product lines and close customer relationships.