Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Stake Lifted by APG Asset Management N.V.

APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 963.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 162,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 147,401 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $39,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 3.3% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 60,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,784,000 after buying an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 8,786 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 261.6% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 776,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $203,619,000 after purchasing an additional 12,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 7.4% during the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $252.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $269.00 to $234.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $265.18.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

ITW stock opened at $217.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $63.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $259.67. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $214.66 and a 52 week high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.19%.

Insider Activity

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total value of $13,293,565.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,113 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.