Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Seven 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.45.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $79.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. Fortive has a 52 week low of $66.15 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $76.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.76.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This trade represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 71.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Fortive by 186.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 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.