Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,040,000 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the January 15th total of 5,520,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,570,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Fortive Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:FTV opened at $81.75 on Wednesday. Fortive has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $28.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $77.87 and a 200-day moving average of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Fortive will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FTV shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.64.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Fortive during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.