Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Reaches New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Fortive shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $63.52 and closing near $63.54, up about 1.4% on the day.
• Wall Street remains cautious overall: analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating with a consensus price target of $61.83, even after several firms raised targets.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations with Q1 EPS of $0.70 versus $0.64 expected, and it also announced a quarterly dividend plus a 20 million-share buyback program.

Shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $63.52 and last traded at $63.5440, with a volume of 372889 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $62.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on Fortive from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Fortive from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.83.

Fortive Stock Up 1.4%

The firm has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.06 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's 50 day moving average is $60.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortive Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is 14.37%.

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

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total transaction of $2,891,941.17. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 87,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. This trade represents a 35.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,811 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 6.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the technology company's stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 246.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 87.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,270 shares of the technology company's stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Fortive by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 80,595 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,201,000 after buying an additional 2,548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Company Profile

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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