Exeter Financial LLC Increases Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Exeter Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the quarter. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter worth $32,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 261.4% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $270.11.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE ITW opened at $249.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $265.62 and a 200-day moving average of $255.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $232.77 and a 1-year high of $279.13. The firm has a market cap of $73.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.11.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 97.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.