Analysts Set Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Price Target at $87.64

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.64.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 over the last three months. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 186.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV opened at $73.83 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.80. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortive will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

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.