Short Interest in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Expands By 7.0%

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,510,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the November 30th total of 3,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,530,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Fortive Stock Performance

Fortive stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $75.00. 1,227,969 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,038,416. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $26.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.52. 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 (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 14,635.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972,855 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 1,005.9% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,983 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $634,701,000 after acquiring an additional 977,428 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,014.1% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,984,000 after acquiring an additional 841,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 59.3% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $107,271,000 after buying an additional 505,882 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on FTV. Citigroup cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 target price for the company. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.82.

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.