Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Authorizes Share Buyback Program

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 27th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Fortive Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE FTV traded down $0.90 on Friday, hitting $70.17. 4,282,229 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,585,133. Fortive has a 52-week low of $60.39 and a 52-week high of $83.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. The company's 50-day moving average price is $69.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.68.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Fortive's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Fortive will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,585 shares in the company, valued at $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total transaction of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,823,290. This represents a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.