Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $63.52 and last traded at $63.5440, with a volume of 372889 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FTV shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Fortive from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Fortive from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Fortive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.83.

Fortive Trading Down 1.8%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $60.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71 and a beta of 1.06.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.37%.

Fortive declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total transaction of $2,891,941.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 87,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. This trade represents a 35.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Fortive by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 553 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fortive by 246.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its holdings in Fortive by 59.2% during the first quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 702 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Company Profile

Fortive Corporation (NYSE: FTV) is a diversified industrial technology company headquartered in Everett, Washington. The company was created through a spin‑off from Danaher Corporation in 2016 and has since focused on building a portfolio of professional instrumentation and industrial technology businesses. In 2020 Fortive completed a further portfolio separation with the spin‑off of Vontier, concentrating Fortive’s activities on higher‑margin instrumentation, software and services.

Fortive’s operations center on professional test and measurement, sensing and monitoring, software‑enabled solutions, and lifecycle services that support industrial and commercial customers.