Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Reduces Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,749 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $2,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth about $203,949,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 36,632.9% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 438,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,209,000 after purchasing an additional 437,397 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $358,321,000 after buying an additional 398,676 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 318.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 405,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,352,000 after purchasing an additional 308,935 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,292,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,645,972,000 after buying an additional 167,422 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ITW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays set a $260.00 price objective on Illinois Tool Works and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $269.10.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

NYSE ITW opened at $253.19 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $258.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $74.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $232.77 and a 12 month high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) 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, research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total transaction of $18,431,000.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total value of $11,249,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,698,667.50. This represents a 45.09 % 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 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.