Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) Upgraded by Argus to Strong-Buy

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $268.00 to $260.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $283.00 to $281.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $217.00 to $215.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $248.67.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $243.86 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $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. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.10. Illinois Tool Works has a 1-year low of $217.50 and a 1-year high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. purchased 775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 121,506 shares in the company, valued at $29,018,062.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other 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.