New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Acquires 4,330 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 5,481.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,330 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,326,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,675,473,000 after acquiring an additional 94,601 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,434,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,277,127,000 after purchasing an additional 149,272 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,292,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,645,972,000 after purchasing an additional 167,422 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,443,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $873,071,000 after buying an additional 95,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at $806,291,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,502 shares in the company, valued at $13,698,667.50. This represents a 45.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. This trade represents a 21.20 % 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 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE ITW opened at $248.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.36. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $232.77 and a 52-week high of $279.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $258.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $260.83.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. On average, research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ITW shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $268.30.

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.