Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Receives $87.18 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $83.33.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas lowered Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th.

Fortive Stock Down 6.0 %

Fortive stock opened at $63.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. Fortive has a 52-week low of $60.39 and a 52-week high of $84.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $75.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.37.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its 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 net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Fortive will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid 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 0.50%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.56%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total transaction of $237,308.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,349,585.65. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 over the last ninety days. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 80,391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,883,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Fortive during the first quarter worth $209,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in Fortive by 152,000.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,521 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Fortive in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Fortive by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 78,368 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,735,000 after purchasing an additional 3,182 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.