Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Purchases New Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 10,983 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,878,000 after acquiring an additional 2,605 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 15,741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,125,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 998,459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $261,666,000 after purchasing an additional 39,445 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 10.6% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 25.7% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Illinois Tool Works

In related news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total transaction of $18,431,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 260,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total transaction of $11,249,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,698,667.50. This represents a 45.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,925 shares of company stock valued at $42,973,845. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on ITW shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $268.30.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:ITW opened at $255.86 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $75.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $258.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $260.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.36. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $232.77 and a 52-week high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 51.19%.

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.