Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 43.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,366 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $4,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 336.0% in the 4th quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ITW. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $239.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $283.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $259.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. purchased 872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $241.16 per share, for a total transaction of $210,291.52. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 122,884 shares in the company, valued at $29,634,705.44. This trade represents a 0.71% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $251.91 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.59. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $214.66 and a 52 week high of $279.13. The company has a market cap of $73.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.09.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.31% and a return on equity of 90.89%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $1.61 dividend. This represents a $6.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from Illinois Tool Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 52.59%.

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.