Fortive's (FTV) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist Financial has reaffirmed its "hold" rating on Fortive's stock, with a revised target price of $55.00, down from $60.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.71%.
• Fortive's stock recently fell by 2.4%, with a current trading price around $49.68, having a market capitalization of approximately $16.89 billion.
• Recent analyst reports show a trend of downgrades from "buy" to "hold" by several firms, with a consensus rating of "hold" and an average target price of $67.50.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Truist Financial in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $55.00 target price on the technology company's stock, down from their previous target price of $60.00. Truist Financial's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 10.71% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Melius lowered Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $62.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cowen lowered Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Cowen lowered Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Melius Research raised Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $67.50.

Fortive Stock Down 2.4%

FTV opened at $49.68 on Thursday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $62.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.99. Fortive has a one year low of $49.26 and a one year high of $83.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to buyback 15,630,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, 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 Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 181.5% during the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 21,900,363 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,602,669,000 after buying an additional 14,120,456 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 164.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,730,161 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $654,763,000 after buying an additional 5,429,566 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,947,135 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,221,036,000 after buying an additional 3,810,997 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 96.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,626,962 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $411,781,000 after buying an additional 2,764,432 shares during the period. Finally, Third Point LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $142,500,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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