Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on FTV. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.64.

Fortive Stock Up 0.2 %

FTV opened at $76.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.64. Fortive has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.14.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Fortive’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,191,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $644,346,000 after buying an additional 46,704 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $634,701,000 after acquiring an additional 977,428 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Fortive by 14,635.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $315,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972,855 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,444,205 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $271,851,000 after purchasing an additional 103,530 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,668,448 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $197,726,000 after purchasing an additional 205,893 shares in the last quarter. 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.