Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Position Reduced by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lessened its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 429 shares during the quarter. Illinois Tool Works makes up approximately 1.0% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $21,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ITW. Pensionfund Sabic grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 7,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares during the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc acquired a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth $1,729,000. Czech National Bank raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,227 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,179,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 0.2 %

ITW stock opened at $256.50 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $263.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.87. The company has a market capitalization of $75.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.11. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $232.77 and a 52 week high of $279.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 51.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $246.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $270.11.

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.