Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV Boosts Holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Security National Bank purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays lowered 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $250.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. purchased 775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 121,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,018,062.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of ITW traded down $4.58 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $239.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,190,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,177,647. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.50 and a fifty-two week high of $271.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.05. The firm has a market cap of $71.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.15% and a return on equity of 99.74%. The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.25 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. This is a positive change from Illinois Tool Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 55.23%.

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.