Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 4,296 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,905 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,296 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $6,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 7,400 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares during the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc acquired a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,729,000. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 58,265 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,774,000 after acquiring an additional 3,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 15,682 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,976,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $302.00 to $284.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Illinois Tool Works from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $265.00 to $253.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $256.73.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ITW traded up $2.95 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $242.19. 654,959 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,005,971. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a twelve month low of $214.66 and a twelve month high of $279.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. Illinois Tool Works's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Illinois Tool Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.19%.

Insider Activity at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total transaction of $11,249,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,698,667.50. This represents a 45.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total value of $18,431,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 260,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,925 shares of company stock valued at $42,973,845 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

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.