Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Fortive (NYSE:FTV)

Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 8,326 put options on the company. This is an increase of 3,298% compared to the average volume of 245 put options.

Fortive Trading Down 0.1%

FTV stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $56.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,639,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,468,431. The stock has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.12. Fortive has a 52 week low of $46.34 and a 52 week high of $83.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.66.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortive will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,811 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 6.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Fortive by 246.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Fortive by 50.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,408 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 5,832 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price objective on Fortive in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Mizuho restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price (down previously from $54.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Fortive from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.85.

About Fortive

Fortive Corporation (NYSE: FTV) is a diversified industrial technology company headquartered in Everett, Washington. The company was created through a spin?off from Danaher Corporation in 2016 and has since focused on building a portfolio of professional instrumentation and industrial technology businesses. In 2020 Fortive completed a further portfolio separation with the spin?off of Vontier, concentrating Fortive’s activities on higher?margin instrumentation, software and services.

Fortive’s operations center on professional test and measurement, sensing and monitoring, software?enabled solutions, and lifecycle services that support industrial and commercial customers.