Cerity Partners LLC Has $229.27 Million Stock Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 263.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 903,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 655,341 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $229,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ITW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,326,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,675,473,000 after buying an additional 94,601 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,392,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,620,491,000 after acquiring an additional 99,753 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,443,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $873,071,000 after acquiring an additional 95,925 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $806,291,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,516,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $638,205,000 after purchasing an additional 32,607 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of 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. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $268.30.

Insider Activity at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,516,979.20. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 owns 50,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,698,667.50. The trade was a 45.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $225.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.49. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.88 and a 1-year high of $279.13. The firm has a market cap of $66.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 51.19%.

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.