Howard Financial Services LTD. Has $239,000 Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ITW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth about $806,291,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth about $203,949,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 263.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 903,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $229,269,000 after buying an additional 655,341 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,667,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,465,570,000 after buying an additional 508,188 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 36,632.9% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 438,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $111,209,000 after buying an additional 437,397 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total value of $13,293,565.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,120,802.68. This represents a 46.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $302.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.42.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE ITW opened at $245.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $240.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.24. 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 $214.66 and a 52 week high of $279.13.

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

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.77%.

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.