Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $214.62 Million Stock Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 819,364 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 61,984 shares during the quarter. Illinois Tool Works makes up about 1.3% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Illinois Tool Works worth $214,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Global Investments boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 1,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 24,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,743,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 59.4% in the 3rd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 604 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 108.3% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 2,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ITW. Bank of America cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Illinois Tool Works in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target 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 given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at $56,235,056.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total transaction of $12,722,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,235,056.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total transaction of $205,392.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of ITW opened at $248.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.33. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.06 and a twelve month high of $271.15. The firm has a market cap of $74.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $260.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.37.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 96.60%. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 57.49%.

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.