Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ITW. Bank of America downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $303.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $257.78.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $243.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.32. Illinois Tool Works has a fifty-two week low of $217.06 and a fifty-two week high of $271.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $259.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $251.66. The company has a market capitalization of $72.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.06, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.14.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.82% and a net margin of 19.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.23%.

Insider Activity at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $9,851,485.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,404 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,844.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $9,851,485.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,404 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,844.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,235,056.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,471 shares of company stock worth $35,970,816. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,205,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,035,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,239 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,829,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,954,691,000 after buying an additional 244,145 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,899,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,578,299,000 after buying an additional 97,568 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at $818,408,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,951,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $773,234,000 after acquiring an additional 122,840 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Illinois Tool Works

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.