Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Short Interest Update

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,120,000 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the December 15th total of 5,640,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 845,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ITW shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $270.11.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ITW traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $256.50. The stock had a trading volume of 844,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 768,759. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $264.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.73. Illinois Tool Works has a 12-month low of $232.77 and a 12-month 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. The firm has a market cap of $75.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.11.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Illinois Tool Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illinois Tool Works

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 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.