Montag A & Associates Inc. Sells 289 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Montag A & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 289 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Security National Bank bought a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $268.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $251.00 to $246.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $217.00 to $215.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.22.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $253.18 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.50 and a 12-month high of $271.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $242.38 and a 200 day moving average of $249.05.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 99.74% and a net margin of 19.15%. The company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.41 EPS. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. This is a positive change from Illinois Tool Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. acquired 775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 121,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,018,062.92. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.