Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) Price Target Lowered to $237.00 at Barclays

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) had its price objective reduced by Barclays from $240.00 to $237.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on ITW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $265.00 to $253.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $256.73.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $238.77 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $245.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $256.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.05 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12. Illinois Tool Works has a fifty-two week low of $214.66 and a fifty-two week high of $279.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.39 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 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 51.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Illinois Tool Works news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total value of $11,249,280.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,698,667.50. This represents a 45.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total value of $18,431,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 776,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $203,619,000 after buying an additional 12,988 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 6.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 128.6% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 23,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,084,000 after acquiring an additional 13,062 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 340,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,111,000 after purchasing an additional 16,846 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.