New Century Financial Group LLC Raises Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

New Century Financial Group LLC raised its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 21.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ITW. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus raised shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.44.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $261.03 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $247.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.30. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.50 and a 1 year high of $271.15. The company has a market capitalization of $77.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. This is a boost from Illinois Tool Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.17%.

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.