Swiss National Bank Reduces Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 945,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 31,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $247,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,951,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $773,234,000 after acquiring an additional 122,840 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,445,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 43,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,350,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITW has been the topic of several 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 research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $303.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $257.78.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of ITW stock 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 fifty-two week low of $217.06 and a fifty-two week high of $271.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $251.66.

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

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $9,851,485.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,299,844.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Illinois Tool Works news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,235,056.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $9,851,485.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,844.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,471 shares of company stock valued at $35,970,816 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

About Illinois Tool Works

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.