Stifel Nicolaus Raises Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) Price Target to $259.00

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $258.00 to $259.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price points to a potential upside of 3.74% from the stock’s previous close.

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

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

NYSE ITW traded down $1.54 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $249.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 543,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,243,937. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $260.84 and a 200 day moving average of $250.67. Illinois Tool Works has a one year low of $217.06 and a one year high of $271.15.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 96.60% and a net margin of 18.36%. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. Analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,235,056.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total value of $1,493,401.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,273,292.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,180,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,000. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 135,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,506,000 after acquiring an additional 10,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,770,000. Institutional investors 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.