Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.45.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $79.00. 2,659,762 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,262,396. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Fortive has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $76.61 and its 200 day moving average is $74.76. The company has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Fortive during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 71.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Fortive by 186.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently 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.