Mizuho Has Lowered Expectations for Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Stock Price

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Mizuho from $85.00 to $65.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Mizuho’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 27.14% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Fortive from $87.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on Fortive from $86.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.92.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $51.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $50.00 and a fifty-two week high of $83.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $66.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 12.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that permits the company to buyback 15,630,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total transaction of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 428,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,811 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its stake in Fortive by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 54,896 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,117,000 after purchasing an additional 7,289 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,363 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Fortive by 184.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 51,916 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,894,000 after purchasing an additional 33,642 shares during the period. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,208,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.