Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,040,000 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the January 15th total of 5,520,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Fortive Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:FTV traded down $1.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $80.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,713,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,179,319. The company has a market capitalization of $27.96 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.73.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,947,135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,221,036,000 after buying an additional 3,810,997 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 11,903,240 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $892,743,000 after acquiring an additional 137,479 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Fortive by 164.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,730,161 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $654,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,429,566 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 1.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 13.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $634,701,000 after buying an additional 977,428 shares during the period. 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.