StockNews.com Downgrades Fortive (NYSE:FTV) to Hold

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

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Vertical Research cut Fortive from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Mizuho lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Fortive from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Fortive from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $86.46.

Fortive Price Performance

Fortive stock opened at $76.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $26.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.14. Fortive has a 52 week low of $63.05 and a 52 week high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 14.68%. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortive will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 40,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.28, for a total value of $3,523,416.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 61,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,336,849.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 40,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.28, for a total value of $3,523,416.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 61,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,336,849.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total transaction of $739,036.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,689,743.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock valued at $5,475,122 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Csenge Advisory Group grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 6,801 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 143.9% during the first quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 71,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,168,000 after purchasing an additional 42,308 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in Fortive by 40.3% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 20,506 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 5,885 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Fortive in the first quarter worth $404,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Fortive by 3.1% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 135,635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,667,000 after purchasing an additional 4,023 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is 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.