NEOS Investment Management LLC Purchases 3,732 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,732 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $4,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,949,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 36,632.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 438,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,209,000 after purchasing an additional 437,397 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 318.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 405,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,352,000 after purchasing an additional 308,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,292,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,645,972,000 after purchasing an additional 167,422 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $252.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $268.30.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 1.6 %

ITW opened at $251.86 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $258.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $260.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $232.77 and a fifty-two week high of $279.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works 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 sale, the director now directly owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total value of $13,293,565.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,120,802.68. This represents a 46.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 159,925 shares of company stock valued at $42,973,845. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.