Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Stake Boosted by Graypoint LLC

Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pensionfund Sabic grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 7,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $358,321,000 after acquiring an additional 398,676 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,179,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 36,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,680,000 after acquiring an additional 3,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 7.3% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 144,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,999,000 after purchasing an additional 9,825 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ITW. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $271.67.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of ITW opened at $245.01 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $254.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.11. 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.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.90%.

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.