Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Stock Rating Upgraded by Argus

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) was upgraded by Argus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday. The firm presently has a $68.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Argus’ price target suggests a potential upside of 12.57% from the stock’s current price.

FTV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Fortive from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Zacks Research downgraded Fortive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price target on Fortive in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.46.

Fortive Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $60.41 on Monday. Fortive has a 1 year low of $46.34 and a 1 year high of $74.67. The firm has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.17, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.40.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.06. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, May 4th that allows the company to buyback 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total transaction of $2,891,941.17. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 87,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. This trade represents a 35.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kate Mitchell sold 7,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.34, for a total value of $416,022.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 31,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,853,753.50. This represents a 18.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 553 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,733 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,401 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 953 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Company Profile

Fortive Corporation (NYSE: FTV) is a diversified industrial technology company headquartered in Everett, Washington. The company was created through a spin‑off from Danaher Corporation in 2016 and has since focused on building a portfolio of professional instrumentation and industrial technology businesses. In 2020 Fortive completed a further portfolio separation with the spin‑off of Vontier, concentrating Fortive’s activities on higher‑margin instrumentation, software and services.

Fortive’s operations center on professional test and measurement, sensing and monitoring, software‑enabled solutions, and lifecycle services that support industrial and commercial customers.