Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on FTV. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.45.

Fortive Price Performance

Fortive stock opened at $79.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $76.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.82. Fortive has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during 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%. Fortive’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % 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

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive by 14,635.7% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $315,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972,855 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Fortive by 1,005.9% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $152,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,983 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Fortive by 13.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $634,701,000 after purchasing an additional 977,428 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Fortive by 1,014.1% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,984,000 after purchasing an additional 841,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 59.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,271,000 after purchasing an additional 505,882 shares during the period. 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.