Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Price Target Cut to $98.00

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $101.00 to $98.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on FTV. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Fortive from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $84.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday. 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, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $86.46.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $75.97 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.74 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.13. Fortive has a 52 week low of $62.77 and a 52 week high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 12.22%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortive will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $787,669.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,162,267. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $787,669.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,162,267. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 40,837 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.28, for a total transaction of $3,523,416.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 90 days, insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock valued at $5,475,122. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 7.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,857 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 723.0% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,266 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 20,439 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 5.2% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,499 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its position in Fortive by 22.5% in the third quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 29,395 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,180,000 after acquiring an additional 5,390 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC bought a new stake in Fortive in the third quarter worth about $267,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.