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

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $270.11.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:ITW opened at $261.31 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $263.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $255.87. Illinois Tool Works has a 52-week low of $232.77 and a 52-week high of $279.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $77.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.11.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 97.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illinois Tool Works

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Affinity Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Affinity Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 107.1% during the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,578 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the period. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $883,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 63.6% during the fourth quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 121,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,738,000 after acquiring an additional 47,137 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.