Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Price Target Raised to $79.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) had its target price upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $78.00 to $79.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.62.

Fortive Price Performance

NYSE:FTV opened at $73.12 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a PE ratio of 30.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.11. Fortive has a 1-year low of $60.39 and a 1-year high of $83.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. The business’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Fortive will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to buyback 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 428,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total transaction of $1,058,478.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,290. This represents a 21.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Fortive in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Fortive in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Fortive by 114.2% during the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 377 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.