First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 22.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,213 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $818,408,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,205,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,035,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,239 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,125,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $294,671,000 after purchasing an additional 675,000 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 629,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $164,927,000 after acquiring an additional 346,919 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 23,183.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 315,260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,579,000 after purchasing an additional 313,906 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. purchased 775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following 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 through this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of ITW stock opened at $235.99 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $242.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.32. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.50 and a 52-week high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion during 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%. Illinois Tool Works’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ITW. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $305.00 to $283.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $229.00 to $217.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report 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 report on Monday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.00.

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.