GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ITW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,667,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,465,570,000 after acquiring an additional 508,188 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,392,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,620,491,000 after purchasing an additional 99,753 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,132,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,047,837,000 after purchasing an additional 71,934 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,443,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $873,071,000 after purchasing an additional 95,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. bought 872 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $241.16 per share, for a total transaction of $210,291.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 122,884 shares in the company, valued at $29,634,705.44. This represents a 0.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of ITW opened at $246.51 on Thursday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $214.66 and a one year high of $279.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.75. The company has a market cap of $72.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 52.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $239.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $252.00 to $249.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.42.

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.