Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Fortive has a consensus “Hold” rating from 12 analysts: eight holds, two sells and two buys. The average 12-month price target is $63.10, modestly above the stock’s reported $61.56 price.
• Fortive exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.74 in EPS versus the $0.71 consensus and $1.10 billion in revenue versus $1.07 billion expected. Revenue increased 8% year over year, while full-year guidance was set at $2.95–$3.05 EPS.
• The company authorized a repurchase of up to 20 million shares and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.06, equivalent to a 0.4% annualized yield. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the stock, while an executive recently sold 8,662 shares.

Shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.10.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FTV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Fortive from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $68.00 price target (up from $67.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Argus raised shares of Fortive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 8,662 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.59, for a total value of $533,492.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 79,118 shares in the company, valued at $4,872,877.62. The trade was a 9.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 43.6% during the fourth 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. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Fortive by 2.1% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 9,047 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the technology company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,733 shares of the technology company's stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 953 shares of the technology company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Down 0.1%

Fortive stock opened at $61.56 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.43 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.24. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $46.54 and a fifty-two week high of $64.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.20.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 12.38%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is 14.20%.

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.

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