Hills Bank & Trust Co Trims Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Hills Bank & Trust Co trimmed its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,480 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $6,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PEAK6 Investments LLC grew 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 worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,147,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 78.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 36,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,907,000 after buying an additional 16,216 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 144,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,999,000 after buying an additional 9,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 201,720 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,122,000 after buying an additional 44,898 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ITW. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $217.00 to $215.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.90.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW opened at $261.21 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.82 and a fifty-two week high of $271.15. The stock has a market cap of $77.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $255.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $247.37.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 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.