Wells Fargo & Company Raises Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Price Target to $80.00

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.95% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.09.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV traded up $0.44 on Tuesday, hitting $76.96. 256,782 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,656,482. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Fortive has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.58.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Fortive during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 71.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Fortive by 186.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.