StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Fortive (NYSE:FTV)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV – Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Fortive from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Fortive from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Fortive from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $73.00.

Fortive Price Performance

NYSE:FTV opened at $63.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.13. Fortive has a 12 month low of $52.47 and a 12 month high of $69.78. The business’s 50-day moving average is $67.11 and its 200 day moving average is $65.03.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The technology company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 12.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fortive will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 24th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 13.33%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 1,336 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $88,697.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 37,946 shares in the company, valued at $2,519,234.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 1,336 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $88,697.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 37,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,519,234.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $141,666.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,100.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,648 shares of company stock worth $450,483. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Fortive in the first quarter worth approximately $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Fortive by 6.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,124,090 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $129,421,000 after purchasing an additional 127,093 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Fortive by 123.0% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,004 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 10,481 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in Fortive by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 21,144 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Fortive by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,693,658 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $103,217,000 after acquiring an additional 84,238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.84% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Company Profile

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Fortive Corp. engages in the design, development, manufacturing, and marketing of professional and engineered products, software, and services for a variety of end markets. It operates through the following segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions.