Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on FTV. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.82.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $75.90 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $75.86 and its 200 day moving average is $74.52. 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 52 week low of $66.15 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Fortive’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $382,900.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Fortive in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Fortive in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 71.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Fortive by 186.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.