Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) Price Target Cut to $253.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Citigroup from $265.00 to $253.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.38% from the stock’s current price.

ITW has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $252.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lowered 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 note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $269.00 to $234.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $257.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $260.09.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW traded up $1.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $233.44. 1,129,319 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,007,230. 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $258.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,516,979.20. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total transaction of $13,293,565.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,120,802.68. The trade was a 46.78 % 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 valued at $42,973,845 in the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Illinois Tool Works

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,326,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,675,473,000 after acquiring an additional 94,601 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,667,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,465,570,000 after buying an additional 508,188 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,392,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,620,491,000 after acquiring an additional 99,753 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,132,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,047,837,000 after purchasing an additional 71,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,443,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $873,071,000 after purchasing an additional 95,925 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.