Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Fortive Corporation has received an average rating of "Hold" from 18 research firms, with 12 rating it a hold and 6 a buy, and an average 1-year price target of $65.86.
• Recently, the company experienced a decline in stock prices, opening at $47.61, with shares falling by 1.6%.
• Fortive announced a stock buyback program authorizing the repurchase of 15.63 million shares, indicating management's belief that the shares are undervalued.

Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $65.8571.

A number of research firms recently commented on FTV. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Fortive from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Melius Research upgraded Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of Fortive in a report on Thursday, July 31st.

Insider Activity

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of Fortive 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 51,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $31,029,554. This trade represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmond Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.0% during the first quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 14,515 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 41.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 523 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV increased its position in Fortive by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 27,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,017,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in Fortive by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,119 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RDA Financial Network raised its stake in Fortive by 3.5% during the first quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 4,965 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $47.61 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $59.79 and a 200-day moving average of $68.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.08. Fortive has a 12 month low of $46.35 and a 12 month high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 13.62%. Fortive's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortive will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase 15,630,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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