Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 213,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,065 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Illinois Tool Works worth $55,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ITW. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $303.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $257.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $9,851,485.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,299,844.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of ITW stock traded down $1.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $240.07. The stock had a trading volume of 997,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,028,236. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.68, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.14. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.06 and a twelve month high of $271.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $254.61 and its 200 day moving average is $254.13. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.82% and a net margin of 19.07%. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.23%.

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.