Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 52,432 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 62.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 136,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,432 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $32,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Steele Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.9% in the second quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. now owns 863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.0% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,390 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 3.0% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 3.0% during the first quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 1,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 0.8% during the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,596,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $258.21 on Thursday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.50 and a 52-week high of $271.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $246.54 and a 200 day moving average of $248.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The company has a market capitalization of $76.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. This is an increase from Illinois Tool Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 55.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ITW shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $251.00 to $246.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $283.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $268.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.22.

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.