California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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 owned 0.19% of Illinois Tool Works worth $147,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ITW. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 375.7% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,135 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,917,000 after purchasing an additional 8,794 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,204,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Brendel Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,564,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ITW shares. Truist Financial started coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $301.00 target price for the company. Bank of America cut Illinois Tool Works from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $257.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $12,299,844.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total value of $1,493,401.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,870 shares in the company, valued at $2,273,292.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 Stock Performance

Shares of ITW traded up $1.07 on Wednesday, reaching $251.71. 1,252,463 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,246,599. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market cap of $75.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.13. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $260.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $251.30. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.06 and a 52-week high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 96.60% and a net margin of 18.36%. Illinois Tool Works's revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works's payout ratio is 57.49%.

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.