Analyst initiations: Illinois Tool Works, Perficient, GATX

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Illinois Tool Works, Perficient and GATX were today's noteworthy initiations:

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $59 target at Banc of America, as they believe the challenging macro environment and tougher international comparisons will impact near-term base revenue growth and margin opportunities.
JMP Securities believes shares of Perficient Inc. (NASDAQ: PRFT) have overreacted to weak 2007 organic growth and expects shares to be driven by an acceleration in growth in combination with accretive acquisitions. The firm initiated Perficient with a Market Outperform rating and $20 target.
GATX Corp. (NYSE: GMT) was initiated with a Neutral rating at SunTrust on valuation.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

Credit Suisse initiated Bank of America with a Neutral rating and $48 target and Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) with an Underperform rating and $35 target.
Goldman initiated Bank of New York (NYSE: BK) with a Neutral rating.
Morgan Stanley started WESCO International (NYSE: WCC) with an Equal Weight rating.

Tags: BK, GMT, initiations, ITW, PRFT, WB, WCC