Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Raises Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 39.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,920 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 819 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ITW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $818,408,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,205,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,035,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,239 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,125,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $294,671,000 after purchasing an additional 675,000 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 629,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $164,927,000 after purchasing an additional 346,919 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 23,183.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 315,260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,579,000 after purchasing an additional 313,906 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total value of $205,392.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,505,185.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total transaction of $205,392.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.83, for a total transaction of $12,741,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,321,252.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock traded down $5.13 on Tuesday, hitting $244.11. 2,396,398 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,260,638. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $259.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.79. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.06 and a 1-year high of $271.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 96.60% and a net margin of 18.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays increased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $257.00.

Illinois Tool Works Company 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.