Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Sells 200 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lessened its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake 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. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ITW. StockNews.com lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $269.10.

Insider Transactions at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total value of $11,249,280.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,698,667.50. The trade was a 45.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total value of $18,431,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 260,224 shares in the company, valued at $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 159,925 shares of company stock valued at $42,973,845 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $255.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $232.77 and a 1 year high of $279.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $258.60 and its 200 day moving average is $260.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.19%.

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.