West Coast Financial LLC Lowers Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

West Coast Financial LLC cut its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 810 shares during the period. Illinois Tool Works accounts for 1.3% of West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $11,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,326,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,675,473,000 after purchasing an additional 94,601 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,667,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,465,570,000 after acquiring an additional 508,188 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,132,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,047,837,000 after buying an additional 71,934 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 2.9% during 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 buying an additional 95,925 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of Illinois Tool Works 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 in the company, valued at $13,698,667.50. The trade was a 45.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. bought 872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $241.16 per share, for a total transaction of $210,291.52. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 122,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,634,705.44. The trade was a 0.71% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $269.00 to $234.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.42.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

ITW opened at $246.82 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $72.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $239.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $253.52. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $214.66 and a 12-month high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.77%.

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.