PFG Investments LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

PFG Investments LLC decreased its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,914 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 68 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. TI Trust Inc. increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 11,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,026,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,413 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $865,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Affinity Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 107.1% in the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,578 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ITW. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $268.00 to $266.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI lowered Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $269.89.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

NYSE:ITW opened at $258.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.11. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $232.77 and a 1 year high of $279.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $262.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

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.