Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys 303 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,293 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.5% in 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 in the last quarter. PFG Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 0.7% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $952,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 45,676 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.12, for a total value of $11,698,537.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,606,361.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Illinois Tool Works news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 45,676 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.12, for a total transaction of $11,698,537.12. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,606,361.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total value of $1,493,401.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,273,292.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 89,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,248,816. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.0 %

ITW stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $247.13. 118,519 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,233,486. The company has a market capitalization of $73.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.34. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.06 and a 12 month high of $271.15. 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 (NYSE:ITW) last issued 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 business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.07% and a return on equity of 97.82%. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $230.00 to $229.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $257.78.

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.