Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 9,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,343,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 1,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $268.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total transaction of $11,249,280.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,698,667.50. The trade was a 45.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total value of $18,431,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,925 shares of company stock valued at $42,973,845 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 5.9 %

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $225.25 on Friday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.94 and a 1 year high of $279.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $256.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $66.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.