Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) Price Target Raised to $259.00

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $258.00 to $259.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "hold" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price target indicates a potential upside of 3.79% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $277.00 to $240.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Illinois Tool Works in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $301.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $257.00.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

NYSE ITW traded down $1.67 on Wednesday, reaching $249.54. 845,250 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,248,706. Illinois Tool Works has a 12 month low of $217.06 and a 12 month high of $271.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $260.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.67. The stock has a market cap of $74.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 96.60%. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total transaction of $205,392.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total transaction of $1,493,401.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,273,292.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total value of $205,392.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,505,185.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316 in the last three months. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ITW. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 106,553.0% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 7,178,474 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $708,259,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 59.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,591,278 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,011,459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707,780 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,125,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $294,671,000 after purchasing an additional 675,000 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.