Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Price Target Raised to $79.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $78.00 to $79.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the technology company's stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BNP Paribas downgraded Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial lowered 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. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Fortive in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.62.

Fortive Price Performance

NYSE:FTV traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $70.91. 1,939,772 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,635,834. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $24.10 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.11. Fortive has a 12 month low of $60.39 and a 12 month high of $83.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.04 and a 200 day moving average of $74.47.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's payout ratio is presently 14.04%.

Fortive announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 27th that permits the company to repurchase 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,290. This trade represents a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fortive by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,947,135 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,221,036,000 after purchasing an additional 3,810,997 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 181.5% during the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 21,900,363 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,602,669,000 after buying an additional 14,120,456 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Fortive by 50.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,112,403 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $959,567,000 after buying an additional 4,382,242 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its stake in Fortive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 11,903,240 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $892,743,000 after acquiring an additional 137,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Fortive by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,294,930 shares of the technology company's stock worth $620,480,000 after acquiring an additional 103,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

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.