StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Fortive (NYSE:FTV)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV – Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

FTV has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Fortive from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Fortive from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on Fortive from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Fortive from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $73.00.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE FTV opened at $63.93 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.13. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $52.47 and a fifty-two week high of $69.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The technology company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 12.96%. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fortive will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 24th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 23rd. Fortive’s payout ratio is 13.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,249 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.75, for a total value of $220,119.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,216,847.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.75, for a total transaction of $220,119.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,216,847.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 2,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $141,666.21. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,757,100.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,648 shares of company stock worth $450,483. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Fortive by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,031 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Prudential PLC increased its position in shares of Fortive by 2.8% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 6,371 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fortive by 4.6% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,006 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in shares of Fortive by 21.8% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 977 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Fortive by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 49,526 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,182,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. 94.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Company Profile

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Fortive Corp. engages in the design, development, manufacturing, and marketing of professional and engineered products, software, and services for a variety of end markets. It operates through the following segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions.