Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Posts Earnings Results

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The technology company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04, reports. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.97. 1,918,843 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,709,118. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.03, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.13. Fortive has a one year low of $62.77 and a one year high of $87.10.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.65%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total value of $787,669.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,162,267. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Fortive news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total transaction of $739,036.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,689,743.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total value of $787,669.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,162,267. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 63,937 shares of company stock worth $5,475,122. Corporate insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,092,535 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,415,902,000 after buying an additional 181,948 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 11,107,878 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $817,873,000 after buying an additional 512,414 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,577,474 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $557,929,000 after purchasing an additional 878,523 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,847,724 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $430,568,000 after purchasing an additional 33,990 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,886,914 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,254,000 after purchasing an additional 85,560 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FTV shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Fortive from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Fortive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Fortive from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their price target on Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.46.

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.