How Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) Stacks Up Against Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Phillips 66 (PSX) and Other Peers

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names have jumped into Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) headfirst. Adage Capital Management, led by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, initiated the largest position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW). Adage Capital Management had $45.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Gregg Moskowitz’s Interval Partners also initiated a $18 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new ITW positions are Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW). These stocks are Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN), Bank of Montreal (USA) (NYSE:BMO), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX). All of these stocks’ market caps match ITW’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 32 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $2.97 billion. That figure was $703 million in ITW’s case. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Bank of Montreal (USA) (NYSE:BMO) is the least popular one with only 16 bullish hedge fund positions. Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard NFLX might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None