VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,521 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 103 shares during the quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $380,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% in the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% in 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 buying an additional 167,422 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,347,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $877,234,000 after buying an additional 135,023 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,849,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $484,685,000 after purchasing an additional 32,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,757,245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $460,533,000 after buying an additional 17,139 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $265.00 to $262.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $269.30.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $264.30 on Friday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $232.77 and a one year high of $279.13. The stock has a market cap of $77.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $257.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $258.29. 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 (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued 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 2.27%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 51.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total value of $18,431,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.