Barclays Boosts Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Price Target to $97.00

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) had its target price increased by Barclays from $89.00 to $97.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on FTV. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Fortive from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Fortive from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Fortive from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $85.46.

Fortive Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of FTV opened at $83.75 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.37. The firm has a market cap of $29.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.13. Fortive has a 12 month low of $62.70 and a 12 month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Fortive will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $425,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,676,445. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Fortive news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total transaction of $739,036.98. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,689,743.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,676,445. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock worth $5,475,122. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $268,686,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 61,103.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,600,591 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $231,338,000 after buying an additional 3,594,708 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 10,525,824 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $775,016,000 after buying an additional 2,200,729 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Fortive by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,557,116 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,288,355,000 after acquiring an additional 989,883 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Fortive by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,577,474 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $557,929,000 after acquiring an additional 878,523 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.