Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.64.

Fortive Stock Performance

Fortive stock opened at $75.32 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $76.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.14. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted 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 net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.75%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 14,635.7% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972,855 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,005.9% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761,983 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $634,701,000 after purchasing an additional 977,428 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in Fortive by 1,014.1% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,984,000 after buying an additional 841,671 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Fortive by 59.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $107,271,000 after buying an additional 505,882 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is 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.