JPMorgan Chase & Co. Downgrades Fortive (NYSE:FTV) to Neutral

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) was downgraded by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $90.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $95.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 12.26% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on FTV. Truist Financial began coverage on Fortive in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Fortive from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup raised their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.54.

Fortive Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE FTV opened at $80.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market cap of $28.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Fortive has a one year low of $62.70 and a one year high of $87.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $84.47 and its 200-day moving average is $75.98.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 14.27%. Fortive’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $739,036.98. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,689,743.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock valued at $5,475,122. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in Fortive in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Fortive in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.