Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 1,706 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 153,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $38,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the first quarter valued at $214,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,718 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,450,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,096,000. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth about $398,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $615,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on ITW shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $269.00 to $234.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $265.00 to $253.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $239.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.42.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of ITW stock opened at $249.00 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $239.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $252.80. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $214.66 and a 12-month high of $279.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $72.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. Illinois Tool Works’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.77%.

Insider Activity at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. bought 872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $241.16 per share, for a total transaction of $210,291.52. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 122,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,634,705.44. This trade represents a 0.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.