Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Price Target Raised to $85.00

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

FTV has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.64.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV stock opened at $80.18 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.72 and a 200-day moving average of $75.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.15.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fortive will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake 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 during the period. First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 197.0% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,145,000 after buying an additional 10,125 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortive by 2.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,052,000 after acquiring an additional 10,795 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Fortive by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 37,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after acquiring an additional 7,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Fortive in the third quarter valued at $1,346,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.