Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 394 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 3.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,381 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $2,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PEAK6 Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the first quarter worth about $1,147,000. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1,889.1% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 26,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,103,000 after purchasing an additional 25,144 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 78.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 36,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,907,000 after purchasing an additional 16,216 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 7.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ITW opened at $255.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $253.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $247.33. The company has a market cap of $76.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a twelve month low of $219.01 and a twelve month high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.15% and a return on equity of 99.74%. The company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 59.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $217.00 to $215.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $251.00 to $246.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.44.

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.