Fortive's (FTV) "Overweight" Rating Reaffirmed at Barclays

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reaffirmed by Barclays in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $86.00 price target on the technology company's stock, up from their prior price target of $84.00. Barclays's price target points to a potential upside of 17.69% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FTV. BNP Paribas cut shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.08.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV traded up $1.32 on Tuesday, hitting $73.08. 2,118,238 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,606,362. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.57. Fortive has a twelve month low of $60.39 and a twelve month high of $83.32. The firm has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. Fortive's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 37,502 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,832,000 after acquiring an additional 7,829 shares in the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $358,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $17,750,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $22,412,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $136,794,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fortive

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.