Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Earns “Hold” Rating from Argus

Argus restated their hold rating on shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV) in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on FTV. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho raised Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.82.

Fortive Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of FTV stock opened at $76.84 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.17. Fortive has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Fortive’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at $5,030,281.80. This trade represents a 17.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 197,895 shares of company stock valued at $14,261,051. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 15.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 395,488 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,216,000 after buying an additional 51,690 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Fortive by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,932 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 599.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,546 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,520,000 after purchasing an additional 45,032 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 6.7% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 275,489 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,719,000 after acquiring an additional 17,225 shares during the period. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. raised its stake in Fortive by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 98,487 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,298,000 after buying an additional 7,936 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by 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.