Legal & General Group Plc Sells 600,808 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,049,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 600,808 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.69% of Illinois Tool Works worth $519,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $13,698,667.50. This represents a 45.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ITW. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $269.00 to $234.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $264.09.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock traded up $5.59 on Friday, reaching $232.40. 1,451,463 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,006,739. The firm's 50-day moving average is $252.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.93. The company has a market capitalization of $68.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.36. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $214.66 and a 52 week high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Illinois Tool Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.