Analysts Set Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Target Price at $268.50

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $268.50.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the second quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 261.4% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

ITW stock opened at $254.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $75.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $267.41 and its 200 day moving average is $254.46. 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.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.90%.

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.