Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Receives $87.64 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.64.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV stock opened at $83.05 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.82 billion, a PE ratio of 35.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10.

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 13.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTV. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Fortive by 5.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,031 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in shares of Fortive by 276.2% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 2,043 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Fortive by 7.3% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,872 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McCollum Christoferson Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC now owns 58,238 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.