Zhang Financial LLC Invests $542,000 in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Zhang Financial LLC purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,069 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,205,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,035,292,000 after buying an additional 1,238,239 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,829,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,954,691,000 after purchasing an additional 244,145 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 106,553.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,185,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,582,902,000 after purchasing an additional 7,178,474 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,899,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,578,299,000 after purchasing an additional 97,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,611,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,363,875,000 after purchasing an additional 607,321 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ITW. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Illinois Tool Works in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $257.00.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE ITW opened at $250.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $260.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.79. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.06 and a 12 month high of $271.15. The company has a market capitalization of $74.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 96.60%. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total transaction of $205,392.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,870 shares in the company, valued at $1,505,185.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Illinois Tool Works news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total value of $205,392.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total transaction of $1,493,401.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,273,292.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company 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.