Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Stock Rating Upgraded by Argus

Key Points

• Argus upgraded Fortive from “hold” to “buy” and set a $68 price target, implying about 12.6% upside from the current share price.
• Fortive’s latest earnings beat expectations, with Q1 EPS of $0.70 versus the $0.64 consensus and revenue of $2.14 billion, up 7.7% year over year.
• The company also authorized a 20 million-share buyback, signaling management’s confidence in the stock’s valuation, even as some insiders recently sold shares.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Argus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Monday. The brokerage currently has a $68.00 target price on the technology company's stock. Argus' target price points to a potential upside of 12.57% from the stock's current price.

FTV has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price objective on Fortive in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Fortive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Fortive from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.46.

Fortive Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $60.41 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a PE ratio of 36.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Fortive has a 52-week low of $46.34 and a 52-week high of $74.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $57.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.40.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortive will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $2,891,941.17. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 87,780 shares in the company, valued at $5,337,901.80. This represents a 35.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kate Mitchell sold 7,131 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.34, for a total value of $416,022.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 31,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,853,753.50. This represents a 18.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 553 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,733 shares of the technology company's stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,401 shares of the technology company's stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 953 shares of the technology company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company's stock.

About Fortive

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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