Patten & Patten Inc. TN Buys Shares of 881 Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays set a $260.00 target price on Illinois Tool Works and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $269.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total transaction of $11,249,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,502 shares in the company, valued at $13,698,667.50. This trade represents a 45.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total value of $18,431,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:ITW opened at $256.17 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $257.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $232.77 and a 12 month high of $279.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13.

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%. Research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.19%.

About Illinois Tool Works

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.