Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $257.00.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ITW shares. Truist Financial started coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 target price for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America cut Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price 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.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $250.46 on Friday. Illinois Tool Works has a one year low of $217.06 and a one year high of $271.15. The company has a market cap of $74.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.33. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $260.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.79.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 96.60% and a net margin of 18.36%. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.49%.

Insider Transactions at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 5,870 shares in the company, valued at $1,505,185.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.83, for a total value of $12,741,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,321,252.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,238,239 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 1.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,829,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,954,691,000 after purchasing an additional 244,145 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 106,553.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,185,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,582,902,000 after purchasing an additional 7,178,474 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,578,299,000 after purchasing an additional 97,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 12.1% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,611,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,363,875,000 after purchasing an additional 607,321 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

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.