Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Decreases Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 819,364 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 61,984 shares during the quarter. Illinois Tool Works makes up approximately 1.3% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $214,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. PFG Advisors boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 6,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Mcdonald Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 4,796 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE ITW opened at $248.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $74.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $260.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $251.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.06 and a 1 year high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 96.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,235,056.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Illinois Tool Works news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total transaction of $12,722,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at $56,235,056.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total transaction of $1,493,401.83. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,870 shares in the company, valued at $2,273,292.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,471 shares of company stock valued at $48,712,316 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Illinois Tool Works in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $277.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $257.00.

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.