Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $88.20.

FTV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price target on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV opened at $76.16 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.18. The firm has a market cap of $26.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $65.14 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Fortive’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortive will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 192,895 shares of company stock worth $13,878,151 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.