Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 2,577 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,048 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,577 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $4,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $847,610,000 after buying an additional 322,192 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 318.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 405,817 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $106,352,000 after acquiring an additional 308,935 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 242.3% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 341,356 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,888,000 after acquiring an additional 241,618 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,292,268 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,645,972,000 after purchasing an additional 167,422 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $270.11.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of ITW stock traded up $0.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $256.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 844,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 884,933. The business has a fifty day moving average of $264.57 and a 200-day moving average of $255.29. The company has a market cap of $75.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 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 company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The business's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Illinois Tool Works's payout ratio is currently 51.90%.

Illinois Tool Works Company 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.