Cypress Capital Group Reduces Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Cypress Capital Group reduced its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 846 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 36,632.9% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 438,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,209,000 after acquiring an additional 437,397 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $358,321,000 after acquiring an additional 398,676 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 318.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 405,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,352,000 after acquiring an additional 308,935 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,292,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,645,972,000 after acquiring an additional 167,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 787.3% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 186,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,945,000 after acquiring an additional 165,607 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $269.30.

Insider Activity at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total transaction of $18,431,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 260,224 shares in the company, valued at $68,516,979.20. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

ITW opened at $261.14 on Thursday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $232.77 and a 1 year high of $279.13. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $257.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 51.19%.

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.