Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Director Sells $18,431,000.00 in Stock

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total value of $18,431,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.5 %

ITW opened at $264.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $77.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $257.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.58. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $232.77 and a 12 month high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. On average, equities analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.50 dividend. 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ITW. Barclays lowered their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $265.00 to $262.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $269.30.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ITW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth about $806,291,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth about $203,949,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 263.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 903,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $229,269,000 after purchasing an additional 655,341 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,667,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,465,570,000 after purchasing an additional 508,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 36,632.9% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 438,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $111,209,000 after purchasing an additional 437,397 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

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.