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

Range Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 168.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,690 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ITW. Nikulski Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 1,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.5% during the third quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 1,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 4,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $957,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised Illinois Tool Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $268.50.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.6 %

ITW stock traded down $1.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $248.79. 685,393 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 772,634. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The company has a market cap of $73.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.11. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $232.77 and a 52-week high of $279.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $267.01 and its 200-day moving average is $254.89.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is 51.90%.

Illinois Tool Works Profile

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.