Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Trims Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 12,329 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $13,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,205,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,035,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,239 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,125,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $294,671,000 after purchasing an additional 675,000 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 23,183.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 315,260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,579,000 after buying an additional 313,906 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 77.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 597,186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $137,538,000 after buying an additional 260,679 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 57.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 699,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $161,131,000 after buying an additional 254,321 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total transaction of $205,392.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,505,185.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total value of $205,392.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,505,185.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total value of $1,493,401.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,870 shares in the company, valued at $2,273,292.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE ITW traded up $1.13 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 stock has a market capitalization 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. The company’s fifty day moving average is $260.40 and its 200 day moving average is $251.19. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.06 and a 52-week high of $271.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10.

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

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.00.

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.