Short Interest in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Decreases By 5.7%

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,120,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the March 15th total of 7,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.6 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.7 %

ITW opened at $249.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $74.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.13. Illinois Tool Works has a 12 month low of $217.06 and a 12 month high of $271.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $260.75 and a 200 day moving average of $250.66.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 96.60% and a net margin of 18.36%. The firm’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America lowered Illinois Tool Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Truist Financial started coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $257.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Illinois Tool Works

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.83, for a total transaction of $12,741,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,321,252.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.83, for a total transaction of $12,741,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,321,252.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total value of $1,493,401.83. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,870 shares in the company, valued at $2,273,292.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 10.5% during the first quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 3,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.0% during the first quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 5,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 8.8% during the first quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.5% during the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

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.