Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

FTV has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.45.

Fortive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $79.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. Fortive has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.81.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Fortive’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 3.6% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,899 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Fortive by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its position in Fortive by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 10,048 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 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.