Brokerages Set Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Target Price at $245.50

Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $245.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ITW shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $215.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America cut Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $238.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 0.0 %

ITW stock opened at $268.33 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $260.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.03. 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 market capitalization of $80.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 96.60% and a net margin of 18.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. Analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at $56,235,056.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 37,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total value of $9,851,485.02. Following 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chairman now owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at $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 three months. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 3.7% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 9,666 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 4.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,899,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 54.7% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,859 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 9.9% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 70.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 746 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during 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.