First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Buys 1,213 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 22.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,213 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 6,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $952,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ITW shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $229.00 to $217.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $305.00 to $283.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup increased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. bought 775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 121,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,018,062.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

ITW stock opened at $235.99 on Friday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.50 and a 52-week high of $271.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $242.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.26. The company has a market capitalization of $70.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.07% and a return on equity of 97.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 55.23%.

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.