Board of the Pension Protection Fund Invests $634,000 in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the second quarter valued at $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 1.2 %

ITW opened at $252.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $265.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.11. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $232.77 and a 1-year high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 97.06%. Illinois Tool Works’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial increased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $270.11.

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.