Short Interest in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Increases By 8.9%

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 29th, there was short interest totalling 7,840,000 shares, an increase of 8.9% from the February 14th total of 7,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.3 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

ITW traded down $2.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $264.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 969,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,340,249. The stock has a market cap of $79.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $246.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. Illinois Tool Works has a twelve month low of $217.06 and a twelve month high of $269.23.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.98 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. Research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.12 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 Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,321,252.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.83, for a total value of $12,741,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,321,252.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.29, for a total value of $1,493,401.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,273,292.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,471 shares of company stock valued at $48,712,316 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Aspect Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 79.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ITW shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Illinois Tool Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial started coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Bank of America downgraded 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $238.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $245.50.

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.