Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Increases Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 348,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,780 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.12% of Illinois Tool Works worth $88,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,326,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,675,473,000 after acquiring an additional 94,601 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,434,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,277,127,000 after purchasing an additional 149,272 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,292,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,645,972,000 after purchasing an additional 167,422 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,443,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $873,071,000 after buying an additional 95,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth $806,291,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ITW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $268.30.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $246.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $232.77 and a 1-year high of $279.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $258.40 and a 200-day moving average of $260.73.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 51.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the 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 owns 260,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total transaction of $13,293,565.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,120,802.68. This trade represents a 46.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.