V Square Quantitative Management LLC Buys 82 Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 26,088.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 323,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $847,610,000 after purchasing an additional 322,192 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 318.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 405,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,352,000 after purchasing an additional 308,935 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,292,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,645,972,000 after acquiring an additional 167,422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 787.3% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 186,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,945,000 after acquiring an additional 165,607 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $260.04 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $258.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a one year low of $232.77 and a one year high of $279.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.11.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ITW. StockNews.com cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $271.00.

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.