Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Short Interest Up 17.2% in September

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, an increase of 17.2% from the September 15th total of 3,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at $5,030,281.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at $5,030,281.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new stake in Fortive in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Fortive during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV stock traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $77.23. 1,303,819 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,847,590. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Fortive has a 12 month low of $63.05 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $73.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.12.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Fortive had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $77.00 target price on shares of Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Fortive from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.36.

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.