Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.54.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Vertical Research lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Fortive from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 40,837 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.28, for a total transaction of $3,523,416.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 61,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,336,849.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total value of $787,669.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,162,267. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 40,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.28, for a total value of $3,523,416.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 61,855 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,336,849.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock valued at $5,475,122 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in Fortive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV stock opened at $80.61 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $84.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $28.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.13. Fortive has a 52-week low of $62.70 and a 52-week high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 14.27%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

About Fortive

Fortive Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and services professional and engineered products, software, and services in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions. The Intelligent Operating Solutions segment provides advanced instrumentation, software, and services, including electrical test and measurement, facility and asset lifecycle software applications, and connected worker safety and compliance solutions for manufacturing, process industries, healthcare, utilities and power, communications and electronics, and other industries.