Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV – Get Rating) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.62.

FTV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Fortive from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Fortive from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Fortive from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 13th.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV stock opened at $64.38 on Thursday. Fortive has a 52 week low of $52.47 and a 52 week high of $69.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The technology company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 24th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 13.33%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 1,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $88,697.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 37,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,519,234.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Fortive news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,249 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.75, for a total value of $220,119.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,216,847.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 1,336 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $88,697.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 37,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,519,234.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,648 shares of company stock valued at $450,483 over the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 18.4% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,031 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Prudential PLC boosted its position in Fortive by 2.8% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 6,371 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 4.6% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,006 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in Fortive by 21.8% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 977 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 49,526 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,182,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.84% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Fortive Corp. engages in the design, development, manufacturing, and marketing of professional and engineered products, software, and services for a variety of end markets. It operates through the following segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions.