Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 153 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. reduced its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 153 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ITW. StockNews.com raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $268.00 to $266.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup cut their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $269.89.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $256.59 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $262.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $256.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.36. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $232.77 and a 52-week high of $279.13. The stock has a market cap of $75.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.11.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works 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.