Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Shares Gap Down to $80.70

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $80.70, but opened at $74.65. Fortive shares last traded at $77.70, with a volume of 1,361,319 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on FTV. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Vertical Research lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Fortive in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Fortive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.46.

Fortive Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $26.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.13.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 12.12%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total value of $787,669.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,162,267. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 40,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.28, for a total transaction of $3,523,416.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 61,855 shares in the company, valued at $5,336,849.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $787,669.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,162,267. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock valued at $5,475,122 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,724 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,249 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of Fortive by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Fortive by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,191 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Fortive by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,505 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

About Fortive

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.