Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Stock

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.17% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 1st. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.64.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV opened at $76.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $76.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.62. Fortive has a 52-week low of $66.15 and a 52-week high of $87.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.65 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fortive will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 14,635.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $315,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972,855 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Fortive by 1,005.9% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761,983 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 13.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $634,701,000 after purchasing an additional 977,428 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in Fortive by 1,014.1% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,984,000 after buying an additional 841,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 59.3% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,271,000 after buying an additional 505,882 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Fortive

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.