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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ITW. StockNews.com raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $268.00 to $266.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.67.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE ITW opened at $255.58 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $262.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.01. Illinois Tool Works has a fifty-two week low of $232.77 and a fifty-two week high of $279.13. The company has a market cap of $75.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illinois Tool Works

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 7,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares in the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth $1,729,000. Czech National Bank raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 58,265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,774,000 after purchasing an additional 3,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter worth $1,179,000. 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.