Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 1,527 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 341,554 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Illinois Tool Works worth $86,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ITW. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,434,001 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,277,127,000 after buying an additional 149,272 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 135,023 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 32,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,757,245 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $460,533,000 after purchasing an additional 17,139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ITW. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $269.30.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ITW traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $264.30. The company had a trading volume of 918,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 965,335. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $232.77 and a one year high of $279.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $257.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.12. The company has a market capitalization of $77.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.11.

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 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.41 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the firm's 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 owns 260,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.