JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its price target on Fortive from $63 to $64, while keeping an underweight rating. The new target still implies about 7.1% upside from the prior close.
• Fortive’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.70 versus a $0.64 estimate and revenue of $2.14 billion topping forecasts. The company also reaffirmed strong longer-term expectations, including FY 2026 EPS guidance of 2.90 to 3.00.
• The company’s board approved a 20 million share buyback, signaling management confidence in the stock’s value. Meanwhile, several analysts remain cautious overall, with MarketBeat showing a Hold consensus and a $61.54 average price target.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $63.00 to $64.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "underweight" rating on the technology company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price indicates a potential upside of 7.11% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Fortive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price target on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Fortive from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Fortive from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.54.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.75. The stock had a trading volume of 283,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,625,180. Fortive has a 1 year low of $46.34 and a 1 year high of $74.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.71. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.93 and a 200 day moving average of $55.55. The company has a market cap of $18.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, May 4th that permits the company to buyback 20,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, Director Kate Mitchell sold 7,131 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.34, for a total value of $416,022.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 31,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,853,753.50. This trade represents a 18.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the company'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 value of $2,891,941.17. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 87,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,337,901.80. The trade was a 35.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 27,159 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,501,000 after purchasing an additional 4,903 shares during the period. Triad Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the first quarter valued at about $586,000. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the first quarter valued at about $291,000. Andra AP fonden bought a new position in Fortive in the first quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Fortive by 3.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,085,579 shares of the technology company's stock worth $170,537,000 after buying an additional 102,432 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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