Mizuho Cuts Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Price Target to $65.00

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) had its target price reduced by Mizuho from $85.00 to $65.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the technology company’s stock.

FTV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Cowen lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $86.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.92.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV opened at $50.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.36. Fortive has a twelve month low of $50.00 and a twelve month high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The company’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Fortive will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to buyback 15,630,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total transaction of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,290. This represents a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 428,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,811 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its holdings in Fortive by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 54,896 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,117,000 after purchasing an additional 7,289 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,363 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 184.1% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 51,916 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,894,000 after acquiring an additional 33,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter worth $1,208,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.