Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.00.

A number of analysts have issued reports on FTV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Fortive from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Argus upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Fortive from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, May 22nd.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $60.38 on Thursday. Fortive has a twelve month low of $46.34 and a twelve month high of $64.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Fortive will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 22nd. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 14.37%.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, May 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 20,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $2,891,941.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 87,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. This represents a 35.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 553 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Fortive by 246.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its stake in Fortive by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 702 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fortive

Fortive Corporation (NYSE: FTV) is a diversified industrial technology company headquartered in Everett, Washington. The company was created through a spin‑off from Danaher Corporation in 2016 and has since focused on building a portfolio of professional instrumentation and industrial technology businesses. In 2020 Fortive completed a further portfolio separation with the spin‑off of Vontier, concentrating Fortive’s activities on higher‑margin instrumentation, software and services.

Fortive’s operations center on professional test and measurement, sensing and monitoring, software‑enabled solutions, and lifecycle services that support industrial and commercial customers.