Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Holdings Cut by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 22.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 17,194 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $15,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ITW. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 66.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,077,000 after purchasing an additional 9,271 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 14.0% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 30,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,152,000 after purchasing an additional 3,797 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 971 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.7% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,122 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $261.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $256.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $258.73. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $232.77 and a fifty-two week high of $279.13.

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

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ITW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $265.00 to $262.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $269.30.

Illinois Tool Works Company 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.