Natural Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Natural Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 4,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $112,000. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,179,000. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 4.7 %

NYSE ITW opened at $255.05 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $74.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $232.77 and a 12 month high of $279.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $257.83 and a 200-day moving average of $260.36.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 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 research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is 51.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ITW. Citigroup lowered their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays set a $260.00 target price on Illinois Tool Works and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on 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. Truist Financial increased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $269.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total transaction of $13,293,565.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,113 shares in the company, valued at $15,120,802.68. This trade represents a 46.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total value of $18,431,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 260,224 shares in the company, valued at $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 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.