Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Shares Gap Down to $80.70

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $80.70, but opened at $74.65. Fortive shares last traded at $77.70, with a volume of 1,361,319 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FTV. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Fortive from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.54.

Fortive Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $84.32 and a 200-day moving average of $76.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 14.27%. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 40,837 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.28, for a total value of $3,523,416.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 61,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,336,849.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,017 shares in the company, valued at $4,676,445. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 40,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.28, for a total value of $3,523,416.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 61,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,336,849.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock valued at $5,475,122. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTV. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Fortive in the third quarter worth $25,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new position in Fortive in the first quarter worth $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the third quarter worth $28,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Fortive in the third quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.