Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Shares Bought by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,565 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $2,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ITW. PEAK6 Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased 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 valued at $37,999,000 after buying an additional 9,825 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,179,000. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,727,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 7.8% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 175,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,686,000 after purchasing an additional 12,804 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Argus upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.30.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $270.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company’s fifty day moving average is $260.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.90. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $232.77 and a 1-year high of $277.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.10.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 97.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.55 EPS. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.90%.

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.