Short Interest in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Expands By 8.5%

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

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $255.58 on Tuesday. Illinois Tool Works has a twelve month low of $232.77 and a twelve month high of $279.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $262.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $257.01. The company has a market capitalization of $75.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Illinois Tool Works

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1,060.0% in the third 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 bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ITW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI cut Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $272.67.

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.