Bank of Montreal Can Buys 7,232 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 555,328 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,232 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.19% of Illinois Tool Works worth $146,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PEAK6 Investments LLC raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the third quarter valued at about $1,179,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 7.3% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 144,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,999,000 after purchasing an additional 9,825 shares during the period. BDF Gestion bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the second quarter worth about $1,727,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 175,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,686,000 after purchasing an additional 12,804 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $257.30.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE ITW opened at $276.37 on Tuesday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $232.77 and a 52 week high of $277.94. The company has a market capitalization of $81.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $262.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm 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 posted $2.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 51.90%.

Illinois Tool Works 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.