StockNews.com Upgrades Fortive (NYSE:FTV) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on FTV. Mizuho upgraded Fortive from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Fortive from $84.00 to $75.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen upgraded Fortive from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Fortive from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $86.23.

Fortive Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE FTV opened at $73.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. Fortive has a one year low of $63.05 and a one year high of $87.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 14.39%. Fortive’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 12.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,724 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Lipe & Dalton grew its holdings in Fortive by 1.9% during the first quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 7,096 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network grew its holdings in Fortive by 3.4% during the second quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 4,191 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. grew its holdings in Fortive by 1.3% during the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 11,170 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Fortive by 0.8% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,507 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. 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.