Swedbank AB Sells 2,895 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. $ITW

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. by 3.3% during Q1, now holding 85,990 shares valued at approximately $21.3 million.
• Multiple large investors significantly increased their stakes in Illinois Tool Works, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its position by a staggering 26,372.8% during the same period.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase from $1.50 to $1.61, representing a 2.4% yield and a payout ratio of 56.44%.

Swedbank AB reduced its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,990 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,895 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB's holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $21,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ITW. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ITW shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $254.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $265.00 target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $260.67.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock traded down $1.97 on Tuesday, hitting $261.90. 828,743 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,063,611. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $260.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company has a market cap of $76.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.10. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $214.66 and a 12-month high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.31% and a return on equity of 90.89%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.54 EPS. Illinois Tool Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 10.350-10.550 EPS. Analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $6.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Illinois Tool Works's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Illinois Tool Works's payout ratio is 56.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 6,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.08, for a total value of $1,803,074.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,734,035.12. The trade was a 39.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.