Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Shares Sold by First Heartland Consultants Inc.

First Heartland Consultants Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 10.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,028 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. First Heartland Consultants Inc.’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,364,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,171,006,000 after buying an additional 51,654 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,702,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $640,425,000 after purchasing an additional 62,645 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 9.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,527,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $361,998,000 after acquiring an additional 133,853 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 4.6% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 802,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,447,000 after acquiring an additional 35,145 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 7.3% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 742,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $176,047,000 after acquiring an additional 50,753 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ITW. StockNews.com raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI cut Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Argus raised Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.30.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $272.96 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.44. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12-month low of $232.77 and a 12-month high of $277.58. The company has a market capitalization of $80.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.10. 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) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.20%. 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.