Short Interest in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Expands By 8.5%

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,120,000 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the December 31st total of 5,640,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 845,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.2 days.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ITW. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,296 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 5,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 5,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,314,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at $1,075,000. Finally, Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ITW. StockNews.com upgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI cut Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.67.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

ITW stock opened at $255.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $262.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $75.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.11. Illinois Tool Works has a one year low of $232.77 and a one year high of $279.13.

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.