StockNews.com Downgrades Fortive (NYSE:FTV) to Hold

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

FTV has been the topic of several other research reports. Mizuho upgraded Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $92.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.82.

Fortive Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:FTV opened at $74.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.52. Fortive has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year high of $87.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.65, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 71.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. 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.