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

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,180,000 shares, a decrease of 6.8% from the May 31st total of 2,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,610,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Fortive Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of FTV traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $72.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,940,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,008. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.21. Fortive has a 12-month low of $63.05 and a 12-month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 14.68%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortive will post 3.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Fortive by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,199 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,828,000 after acquiring an additional 134,259 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fortive by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 832,888 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,326,000 after acquiring an additional 35,688 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Fortive by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 577,159 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,496,000 after acquiring an additional 13,251 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Fortive by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,847,724 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $430,568,000 after acquiring an additional 33,990 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $885,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Fortive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Fortive from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Fortive from $96.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.69.

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.