Front Street Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Front Street Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,326,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,675,473,000 after buying an additional 94,601 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,392,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,620,491,000 after purchasing an additional 99,753 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,443,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $873,071,000 after buying an additional 95,925 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth about $806,291,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,516,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $638,205,000 after acquiring an additional 32,607 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITW has been the topic of a number of research analyst 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. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $259.00 to $227.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $269.00 to $234.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $260.09.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $230.68 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $67.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $250.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $258.12. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $214.66 and a one year high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.19%.

Insider Transactions at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total value of $13,293,565.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,120,802.68. This trade represents a 46.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,925 shares of company stock valued at $42,973,845. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.