Townsquare Capital LLC Buys 970 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $2,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 261.4% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ITW. Evercore ISI lowered Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.30.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $277.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.10. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $232.77 and a one year high of $279.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $264.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.77.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 51.90%.

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.