Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,102 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25,611 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $36,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 9,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,343,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lyell Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 1,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total value of $13,293,565.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,113 shares in the company, valued at $15,120,802.68. This represents a 46.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 50,502 shares in the company, valued at $13,698,667.50. The trade was a 45.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845 over the last quarter. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $269.10.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ITW stock opened at $254.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.74. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $232.77 and a 1-year high of $279.13. The company has a market cap of $74.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 51.19%.

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.