Royal Bank of Canada Trims Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Target Price to $83.00

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) had its target price reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $93.00 to $83.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Fortive from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and cut their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $84.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Fortive from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $86.46.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $75.97 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $26.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.13. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $62.77 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 12.22%. Equities analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 12.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $787,669.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,162,267. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $787,669.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 36,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,162,267. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,689,743.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,937 shares of company stock worth $5,475,122. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Conning Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortive during the first quarter worth about $204,000. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC bought a new position in Fortive in the first quarter worth $4,786,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE acquired a new stake in Fortive during the first quarter worth $437,000. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Fortive by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 5,617 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 1st quarter valued at $874,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.