Westpac Banking Corp Sells 31,206 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Westpac Banking Corp reduced its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 31,206 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $4,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 103,194.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 72,134,735 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,045,225,000 after purchasing an additional 72,064,901 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised 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 worth $5,431,195,000 after buying an additional 997,389 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $1,582,902,000 after buying an additional 7,178,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Illinois Tool Works by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,801,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,689,749,000 after acquiring an additional 200,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 12.1% in the 1st 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 during the period. 79.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $281.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Illinois Tool Works in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $213.00 to $198.00 in a report on Thursday, September 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.25.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of ITW stock traded up $1.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $238.84. The stock had a trading volume of 136,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,081,134. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 1-year low of $214.66 and a 1-year high of $264.19. The firm has a market cap of $71.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $231.85 and its 200-day moving average is $237.76.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.55% and a return on equity of 95.68%. Illinois Tool Works’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 29th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 28th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.32%.

Illinois Tool Works Profile

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.