Hamel Associates Inc. Trims Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Hamel Associates Inc. lowered its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 375 shares during the quarter. Illinois Tool Works accounts for 2.4% of Hamel Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $7,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,434,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,277,127,000 after buying an additional 149,272 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $1,645,972,000 after buying an additional 167,422 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,443,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $873,071,000 after buying an additional 95,925 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,503,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $634,797,000 after buying an additional 46,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,849,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $484,685,000 after buying an additional 32,656 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ITW. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $269.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 260,224 shares in the company, valued at $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $263.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $77.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.11. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $232.77 and a 52 week high of $279.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $257.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $259.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.19%.

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.