Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.45.

A number of research firms recently commented on FTV. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays cut their price target on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Fortive Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:FTV opened at $80.55 on Friday. Fortive has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.07.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Fortive by 16.0% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,487 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 2,001 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 5.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 28,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Fortive by 59.5% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 36,706 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after buying an additional 13,699 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,967 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Fortive by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,565,443 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $190,099,000 after buying an additional 94,170 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Company Profile

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.