Cambridge Trust Co. Lowers Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Cambridge Trust Co. lowered its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 716 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $2,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ITW. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the 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 approximately $1,505,185.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total value of $205,392.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total transaction of $12,722,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,235,056.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

ITW opened at $248.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $260.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.65. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.06 and a 52-week high of $271.15.

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

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ITW. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $240.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $257.00.

Illinois Tool Works 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.