AIA Group Ltd Buys New Shares in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 1,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Four 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $257.00.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of ITW stock opened at $250.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.13. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.06 and a 52-week high of $271.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $260.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $250.79. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 57.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $9,851,485.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,844.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,321,252.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total value of $9,851,485.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,844.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316. 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.