West Coast Financial LLC Purchases 668 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

West Coast Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the quarter. Illinois Tool Works accounts for about 1.3% of West Coast Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $11,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 149,272 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 167,422 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $877,234,000 after purchasing an additional 135,023 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,702,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $640,425,000 after buying an additional 62,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $484,685,000 after buying an additional 32,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ITW shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI downgraded Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $270.11.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $253.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $75.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $265.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.30. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $232.77 and a one year high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.55 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.90%.

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.