Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 4,461 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Confluence Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 235,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,461 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Illinois Tool Works worth $59,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,434,001 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,277,127,000 after purchasing an additional 149,272 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,292,268 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,645,972,000 after acquiring an additional 167,422 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,347,326 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $877,234,000 after purchasing an additional 135,023 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,702,683 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $640,425,000 after buying an additional 62,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,849,448 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $484,685,000 after buying an additional 32,656 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ITW shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI cut Illinois Tool Works from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $268.50.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 1.4 %

ITW stock traded down $3.53 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $250.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 748,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,032,140. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $267.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.55. The stock has a market cap of $73.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.10. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $232.77 and a 52 week high of $279.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Illinois Tool Works's dividend payout ratio is 51.90%.

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.