Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Director Ernest Scott Santi Sells 70,000 Shares

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total transaction of $18,431,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:ITW opened at $264.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $232.77 and a 12 month high of $279.13. The company has a market cap of $77.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $258.43.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. Research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illinois Tool Works

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ITW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at $806,291,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at $203,949,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 263.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 903,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $229,269,000 after acquiring an additional 655,341 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,667,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,465,570,000 after acquiring an additional 508,188 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 36,632.9% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 438,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,209,000 after acquiring an additional 437,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $269.30.

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.