Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 12,329 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 50,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 12,329 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $13,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,205,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,035,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,239 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,829,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,954,691,000 after purchasing an additional 244,145 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,899,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,578,299,000 after purchasing an additional 97,568 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,742,605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $401,352,000 after buying an additional 22,238 shares during the period. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,125,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $294,671,000 after buying an additional 675,000 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITW traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $251.09. The company had a trading volume of 228,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,781. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $260.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $251.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market cap of $75.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.13. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.06 and a 52-week high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 96.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 57.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ITW. Bank of America downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Illinois Tool Works in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $257.00.

Insider Transactions at Illinois Tool Works

In related news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,235,056.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Illinois Tool Works news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at $56,235,056.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total transaction of $205,392.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 189,471 shares of company stock valued at $48,712,316. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.