Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV) to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on FTV. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Fortive from $87.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.08.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $53.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.92. Fortive has a 52-week low of $50.00 and a 52-week high of $83.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.09.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 12.90%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. Fortive’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Fortive will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to repurchase 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total transaction of $1,058,478.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,290. This trade represents a 21.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 428,585 shares in the company, valued at $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Fortive by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,811 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Fortive by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,869 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Fortive by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortive by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,014,318 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $151,074,000 after purchasing an additional 49,529 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter worth $5,847,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Company Profile

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.