Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Raised to Hold at Melius Research

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Melius Research to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

FTV has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fortive to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $69.36.

Fortive Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $51.08 on Tuesday. Fortive has a 12 month low of $50.00 and a 12 month high of $83.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $65.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.31. The firm has a market cap of $17.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.09.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. Fortive had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fortive will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to repurchase 15,630,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total value of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the business's 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 directly owned 428,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 2,811 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Fortive by 184.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 51,916 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,894,000 after purchasing an additional 33,642 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $347,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Fortive by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 19,603 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in Fortive by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 172,903 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $12,968,000 after purchasing an additional 4,447 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.