Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Shares Sold by Haverford Trust Co

Haverford Trust Co reduced its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 171,565 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 405 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $44,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 261.4% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ITW. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus raised shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $257.30.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 1.1 %

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $271.20 on Wednesday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.21 and a fifty-two week high of $277.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $258.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.27. The company has a market capitalization of $80.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 97.06%. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 51.90%.

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.