StockNews.com Upgrades Fortive (NYSE:FTV) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on FTV. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Fortive from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Mizuho raised Fortive from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $86.23.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $73.72 on Friday. Fortive has a 12 month low of $63.05 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.65%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.