Argent Trust Co Has $6.29 Million Stock Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Argent Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $6,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 7,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,876,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% during the 3rd 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 position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,729,000. Czech National Bank increased its position 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, Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 15,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,976,000 after buying an additional 3,765 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ITW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $252.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $265.18.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 3.1 %

ITW traded down $7.19 on Thursday, reaching $227.68. 147,318 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 998,621. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.35. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $214.66 and a one year high of $279.13. The company has a market cap of $66.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $11,249,280.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,502 shares in the company, valued at $13,698,667.50. This represents a 45.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,925 shares of company stock valued at $42,973,845. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.