Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Stock

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Fortive to $58 (from $53) while keeping an "equal weight" rating, implying roughly a 4.8% upside from the current share price.
• Other analysts have also lifted targets (e.g., Barclays, JPMorgan), but the consensus remains a "Hold" with an average price target of $61.23, reflecting mixed sentiment.
• Fortive beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.90 vs. $0.83) and set FY2026 guidance of 2.900–3.000 EPS, while shares trade near $55.33 and the company carries a market cap around $17.0B.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $53.00 to $58.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the technology company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target suggests a potential upside of 4.84% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on FTV. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Fortive from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price objective on Fortive in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Fortive from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Fortive from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.23.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $55.33. 1,107,336 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,081,234. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.03. Fortive has a 1-year low of $46.34 and a 1-year high of $76.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $17.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.07. Fortive had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 11.98%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, Director Kate Mitchell sold 7,131 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.34, for a total transaction of $416,022.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 31,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,853,753.50. The trade was a 18.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 44,157,822 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,437,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,028 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,413,849 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,054,644,000 after purchasing an additional 839,321 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 20,483,680 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,003,495,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571,056 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Fortive by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,046,352 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,106,760,000 after purchasing an additional 4,532,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Fortive by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,157,168 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $738,013,000 after buying an additional 92,222 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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