Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

Fortive (NYSE:FTVGet Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

FTV has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.45.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Fortive

Fortive Stock Up 0.4 %

FTV opened at $80.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $77.03 and its 200 day moving average is $75.02. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14.

Fortive (NYSE:FTVGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 14,635.7% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972,855 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,005.9% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,983 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $634,701,000 after acquiring an additional 977,428 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,014.1% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,984,000 after acquiring an additional 841,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 59.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $107,271,000 after acquiring an additional 505,882 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fortive

(Get Free Report)

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.

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