ING Groep NV Has $6.27 Million Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

ING Groep NV lowered its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,971 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $6,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flossbach Von Storch SE grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 300,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,261,000 after purchasing an additional 77,164 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 151,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,474,000 after purchasing an additional 6,742 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 187,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,597,000 after purchasing an additional 14,959 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 26,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,826,000 after buying an additional 3,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $265.00 to $262.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $269.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $257.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $258.29. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $232.77 and a 1 year high of $279.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.11.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.41 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

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

About Illinois Tool Works

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.