Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 7,700 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 52,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,700 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $13,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total transaction of $18,431,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 260,224 shares in the company, valued at $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $269.30.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ITW opened at $264.30 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $232.77 and a 1-year high of $279.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $257.08 and a 200 day moving average of $258.58.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. On average, research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 51.19%.

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.