Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Purchases 4,748 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Free Report) by 62.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 4,748 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $3,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought 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 Illinois Tool Works during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 28.0% in the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company's stock.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 0.4 %

ITW traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $253.99. 712,557 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 890,329. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $232.77 and a 1 year high of $279.13. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $75.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $265.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.30.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 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 net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 97.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works's payout ratio is 51.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI downgraded Illinois Tool Works from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $270.11.

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.