Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $82.62.

FTV has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Fortive Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of FTV opened at $69.57 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $69.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Fortive has a twelve month low of $60.39 and a twelve month high of $83.32. The stock has a market cap of $23.65 billion, a PE ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.11.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fortive will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase 15,630,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 14.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total value of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,290. This trade represents a 21.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,947,135 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,221,036,000 after purchasing an additional 3,810,997 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in Fortive by 181.5% in the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 21,900,363 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,602,669,000 after buying an additional 14,120,456 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 50.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,112,403 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $959,567,000 after acquiring an additional 4,382,242 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE raised its holdings in Fortive by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 11,903,240 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $892,743,000 after purchasing an additional 137,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,294,930 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $620,480,000 after purchasing an additional 103,015 shares in the last quarter. 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.