Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. 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 note on Monday, April 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of 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, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $303.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $257.89.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of ITW stock traded down $1.84 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $242.27. 1,285,306 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,261,157. Illinois Tool Works has a 1 year low of $217.06 and a 1 year high of $271.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market cap of $72.38 billion, a PE ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.13. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $259.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.72.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 96.60% and a net margin of 18.36%. The company had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, 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 transaction of $205,392.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total value of $205,392.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,505,185.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total transaction of $12,722,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now 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. Insiders have sold a total of 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $818,408,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,238,239 shares in the last quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,125,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $294,671,000 after acquiring an additional 675,000 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 629,636 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $164,927,000 after acquiring an additional 346,919 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 23,183.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 315,260 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,579,000 after purchasing an additional 313,906 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently 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.

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