Patten & Patten Inc. TN Invests $223,000 in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 7,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares during the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,729,000. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 58,265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,774,000 after purchasing an additional 3,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 36,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,680,000 after purchasing an additional 3,903 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ITW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $269.10.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of ITW stock opened at $256.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $75.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.47. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $232.77 and a 12-month high of $279.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the company’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 owns 50,502 shares in the company, valued at $13,698,667.50. This represents a 45.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 approximately $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.