Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Takes $233,000 Position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PEAK6 Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 17.5% during the first quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the first quarter valued at about $1,147,000. Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 1,889.1% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 26,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,103,000 after buying an additional 25,144 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 16,216 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 144,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,999,000 after buying an additional 9,825 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ITW. Evercore ISI cut their price target 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. Argus upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.44.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $256.28 on Thursday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.50 and a 1 year high of $271.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $253.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.33.

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 firm had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Illinois Tool Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is presently 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.