Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $268.00 to $260.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $217.00 to $215.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $248.67.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $243.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $251.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. Illinois Tool Works has a 1-year low of $217.50 and a 1-year high of $271.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.15% and a return on equity of 99.74%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. purchased 775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $238.82 per share, with a total value of $185,085.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 121,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,018,062.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illinois Tool Works

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ITW. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Security National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

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.