CWS Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 239 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,872 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 7,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $358,321,000 after acquiring an additional 398,676 shares during the period. Clark & Stuart Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth $1,729,000. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 58,265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,774,000 after acquiring an additional 3,227 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the third quarter worth $1,179,000. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $269.30.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 1.2 %

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $261.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.67 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $256.91 and its 200-day moving average is $258.73. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $232.77 and a fifty-two week high of $279.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.19%.

Insider Transactions at Illinois Tool Works

In related news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.