Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Given New $98.00 Price Target at Barclays

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Barclays from $96.00 to $98.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential upside of 25.59% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on FTV. Raymond James raised Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.54.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of Fortive stock traded up $0.43 on Wednesday, hitting $78.03. 947,161 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,858,579. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.74. Fortive has a 1-year low of $63.05 and a 1-year high of $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fortive will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In related news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at $5,433,135.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,030,281.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 70.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 896,550 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,058,000 after acquiring an additional 369,351 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 104.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 369,076 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,748,000 after purchasing an additional 188,415 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Fortive by 599.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,546 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,520,000 after buying an additional 45,032 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in Fortive by 6.7% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 275,489 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,719,000 after buying an additional 17,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in Fortive by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,847,724 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $430,568,000 after buying an additional 33,990 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.