Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 10,597 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,597 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $39,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BOKF NA increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 16,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,370,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 61,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,549,000 after purchasing an additional 8,027 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,201,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the 1st quarter valued at about $184,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. bought 775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 121,506 shares in the company, valued at $29,018,062.92. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ITW. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $305.00 to $283.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $267.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $259.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.30.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITW traded up $1.23 during trading on Monday, hitting $248.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 848,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,164,505. The company has a 50-day moving average of $240.92 and a 200-day moving average of $251.29. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.50 and a 12 month high of $271.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $74.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.07% and a return on equity of 97.82%. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 55.23%.

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.