Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Sets New 12-Month Low - Time to Sell?

Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $49.66 and last traded at $51.18, with a volume of 1338172 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $51.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FTV shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Melius cut shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $62.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $86.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, 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. Twelve 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, Fortive currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.36.

Fortive Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.85.

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

Fortive declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to repurchase 15,630,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total value of $1,058,478.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 428,585 shares in the company, valued at $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 97.1% during the fourth 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 holdings in Fortive by 184.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 51,916 shares of the technology company's stock worth $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 worth $347,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings 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 worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Fortive by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 172,903 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,968,000 after purchasing an additional 4,447 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is 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.