New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 14,625 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 206,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,625 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $54,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the second quarter worth $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2,162.5% in the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ITW. Argus raised shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $251.00 to $246.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.44.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE:ITW opened at $264.16 on Thursday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.82 and a 1-year high of $271.15. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $254.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 99.74% and a net margin of 19.15%. The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.82%.

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.