Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stock Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Key Points

• Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 14.0% in Q1, owning 13,686 shares after selling 2,225 shares.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" on Illinois Tool Works stock, with price targets ranging from $220.00 to $265.00.
• Illinois Tool Works recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.50 to $1.61, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.5%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 14.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,686 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,225 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $3,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,519 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,061,654 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $269,193,000 after purchasing an additional 63,195 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 86.8% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,253 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,346,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 36,870 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,349,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 17,579 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,457,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. bought 872 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $241.16 per share, with a total value of $210,291.52. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 122,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,634,705.44. This trade represents a 0.71% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered Illinois Tool Works from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $254.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $259.33.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $256.63 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $252.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $250.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.59. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $214.66 and a one year high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 90.89% and a net margin of 21.31%. Illinois Tool Works's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $1.61 dividend. This represents a $6.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Illinois Tool Works's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Illinois Tool Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.59%.

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.

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