Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Boosts Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 43.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 797 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth $818,408,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,951,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $773,234,000 after buying an additional 122,840 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,350,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $353,715,000 after buying an additional 26,089 shares during the period. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,125,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $294,671,000 after buying an additional 675,000 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. acquired 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $238.82 per share, with a total value of $185,085.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 121,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,018,062.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $237.95 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $244.23 and its 200 day moving average is $254.14. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.50 and a 1 year high of $271.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.82% and a net margin of 19.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $303.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $229.00 to $217.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $256.44.

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.