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

Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.64.

Several brokerages have issued reports on FTV. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,795,793.32. This trade represents a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in Fortive by 197.0% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after buying an additional 10,125 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,052,000 after acquiring an additional 10,795 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 37,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after purchasing an additional 7,829 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the third quarter worth $1,346,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,289 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,292,000 after purchasing an additional 303,788 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Up 2.8 %

FTV opened at $73.83 on Monday. Fortive has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

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.