New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 414,720 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 33,594 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.14% of Illinois Tool Works worth $108,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 26,088.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 323,427 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $847,610,000 after purchasing an additional 322,192 shares during the period. AXA S.A. increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 242.3% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 341,356 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,888,000 after buying an additional 241,618 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 30.7% in the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 767,741 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $181,926,000 after buying an additional 180,458 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 9.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,527,637 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $361,998,000 after acquiring an additional 133,853 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2,334.0% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 127,152 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $34,119,000 after acquiring an additional 121,928 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $251.00 to $246.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.40.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock traded up $1.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $263.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 882,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,986. The company has a market cap of $77.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's 50-day moving average is $255.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.41. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $225.88 and a 52-week high of $271.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. Illinois Tool Works's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Illinois Tool Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.