California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 21,339 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 564,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 21,339 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $147,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ITW. Summit Global Investments grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 13.8% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 1,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 0.8% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 24,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,743,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 6.9% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 59.4% during the 3rd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 604 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $240.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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 note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.00.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of ITW opened at $250.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $260.38 and a 200 day moving average of $251.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.06 and a 12 month high of $271.15. The company has a market capitalization of $74.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 96.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,844.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total transaction of $1,493,401.83. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,273,292.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 189,471 shares of company stock valued at $48,712,316 over the last ninety days. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by 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.