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

Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.36.

FTV has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Fortive from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their price target on Fortive from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Raymond James upgraded Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Fortive from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, September 6th.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $77.26 on Friday. Fortive has a one year low of $63.05 and a one year high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.23 and its 200-day moving average is $75.44.

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.65%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,030,281.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction 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 $5,433,135.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Fortive in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently 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.