Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Short Interest Up 17.2% in September

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, an increase of 17.2% from the September 15th total of 3,020,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,030,281.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Fortive news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at $5,030,281.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new stake in Fortive during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Fortive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Stock Down 0.1 %

FTV traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, hitting $77.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,303,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,847,781. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.16. Fortive has a 12-month low of $63.05 and a 12-month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. Fortive had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Fortive will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Mizuho upgraded Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Fortive from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.36.

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.