KBC Group NV Sells 770 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

KBC Group NV trimmed its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 770 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $15,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ITW. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 165.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,622,000 after purchasing an additional 4,263 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,273,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 86,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,409,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 2.2% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 28,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,698,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 2.8% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $246.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $269.89.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 2.1 %

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $258.87 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market cap of $76.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $262.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $256.77. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $232.77 and a 12 month high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 97.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

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.