MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 2,253 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,253 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $19,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PEAK6 Investments LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 17.5% during the first quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 30.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 51,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,945,000 after purchasing an additional 12,051 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 70.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,640,000 after buying an additional 7,125 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 29.5% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the first quarter worth about $171,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ITW. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus raised shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.30.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of ITW opened at $276.01 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $263.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.39. The company has a market capitalization of $81.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.10. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $232.77 and a fifty-two week high of $279.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.90%.

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.