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

Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.82.

FTV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho raised Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,058,503.21. This trade represents a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Fortive by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,191,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $644,346,000 after purchasing an additional 46,704 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $634,701,000 after buying an additional 977,428 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 14,635.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $315,720,000 after buying an additional 3,972,855 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,444,205 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $271,851,000 after buying an additional 103,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Fortive by 8.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,668,448 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $197,726,000 after buying an additional 205,893 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $75.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $26.02 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. Fortive has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Fortive’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Fortive will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.75%.

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.