Romano Brothers AND Company Sells 304 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Romano Brothers AND Company lessened its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 304 shares during the period. Illinois Tool Works comprises 0.9% of Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $5,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 4.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 22,309,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,431,195,000 after buying an additional 997,389 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 106,553.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,185,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,582,902,000 after acquiring an additional 7,178,474 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,005,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,531,936,000 after acquiring an additional 545,904 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 12.1% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,611,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,363,875,000 after acquiring an additional 607,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 59.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,591,278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,011,459,000 after buying an additional 1,707,780 shares in 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $235.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $213.00 to $198.00 in a report on Thursday, September 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $237.18.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:ITW traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $236.34. 223,693 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,069,300. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $245.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 1.15. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1 year low of $180.27 and a 1 year high of $264.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

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

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.