Swiss National Bank Trims Stock Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Swiss National Bank lessened its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 945,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 31,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.31% of Illinois Tool Works worth $247,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 48,749 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,227,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter worth $286,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 65,972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,194,000 after purchasing an additional 9,613 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $303.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $257.78.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW traded up $1.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $243.92. 909,430 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,258,057. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.06 and a twelve month high of $271.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $259.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.82% and a net margin of 19.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total value of $9,851,485.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,404 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,844.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,870 shares in the company, valued at $1,505,185.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total value of $9,851,485.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,299,844.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,471 shares of company stock valued at $35,970,816 in the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by 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.