Wick Capital Partners LLC Invests $291,000 in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Wick Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 116,489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 533,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $135,331,000 after buying an additional 118,389 shares during the period. Perbak Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,586,000. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 33,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,667,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,465,570,000 after purchasing an additional 508,188 shares during the period. Finally, Berger Financial Group Inc purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $269.00 to $234.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $259.00 to $227.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $252.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $260.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,502 shares in the company, valued at $13,698,667.50. The trade was a 45.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of ITW opened at $242.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $214.66 and a one year high of $279.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $246.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $256.91.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. As a group, analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.19%.

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.