Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lowered its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,713 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $9,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,326,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,675,473,000 after purchasing an additional 94,601 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,667,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,465,570,000 after acquiring an additional 508,188 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,392,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,620,491,000 after acquiring an additional 99,753 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,132,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,047,837,000 after acquiring an additional 71,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,443,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $873,071,000 after acquiring an additional 95,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $241.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $241.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $252.30. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $214.66 and a 12-month high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 95.39% and a net margin of 21.94%. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is 52.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ITW. Citigroup cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $265.00 to $253.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $269.00 to $234.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. bought 872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $241.16 per share, for a total transaction of $210,291.52. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 122,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,634,705.44. This trade represents a 0.71% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.