Keel Point LLC Sells 1,036 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Keel Point LLC trimmed its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,036 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $3,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ITW. Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 41.6% during the first quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 7,547 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216 shares during the period. One Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 1st quarter valued at about $249,000. Journey Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 22.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,404 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,967,000 after acquiring an additional 3,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, White Pine Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.0% in the first quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 79.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $281.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $213.00 to $198.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $235.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $237.18.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of ITW stock traded down $0.81 on Tuesday, hitting $236.90. 140,949 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,068,733. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $71.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 1.15. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $180.27 and a 12 month high of $264.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $245.99 and a 200 day moving average of $238.81.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 94.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This is a boost from Illinois Tool Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 51.83%.

About Illinois Tool Works

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment worldwide. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products. The Automotive OEM segment offers plastic and metal components, fasteners, and assemblies for automobiles, light trucks, and other industrial uses.