Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 136,383 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 17,636 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $34,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 7,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,876,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares during the period. Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at $1,729,000. Czech National Bank raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 58,265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,774,000 after purchasing an additional 3,227 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter valued at $1,179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ITW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price objective on 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 cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $271.00.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $255.77 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $260.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $257.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $232.77 and a 1-year high of $279.13. The company has a market cap of $75.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.11.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. Analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.