Smith Moore & CO. Acquires 298 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. $ITW

Smith Moore & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $4,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,563,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 2nd quarter worth $131,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 67,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,776,000 after acquiring an additional 8,085 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the second quarter valued at about $821,888,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% in the second quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 7,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,972,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Pamela B. Strobel sold 1,521 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.25, for a total transaction of $373,025.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 39,249 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,817.25. This trade represents a 3.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 6,802 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.08, for a total transaction of $1,803,074.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,734,035.12. The trade was a 39.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ITW stock opened at $249.23 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $249.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.27. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $214.66 and a 12-month high of $278.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The firm has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.11.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 93.26% and a net margin of 19.05%.The company had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.91 EPS. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Illinois Tool Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 10.400-10.500 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.61 dividend. This represents a $6.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 62.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $261.00 to $253.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Bank of America upgraded Illinois Tool Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 price target on Illinois Tool Works in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Illinois Tool Works in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $263.77.

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.