QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $5.01 Million Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $5,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 14.0% in the first quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 27.2% in the first quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after buying an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.3% in the first quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 5,990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% in the first quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 7,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the first quarter valued at approximately $946,000. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ITW shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $239.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $265.00 to $253.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. acquired 872 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $241.16 per share, for a total transaction of $210,291.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 122,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,634,705.44. The trade was a 0.71% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $241.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $241.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.66. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $214.66 and a fifty-two week high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 92.77% and a net margin of 21.37%. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio 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.