Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Price Target to $55.00

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $55.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the technology company's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on FTV. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.08.

Fortive Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of FTV stock traded down $0.33 on Tuesday, hitting $53.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,484,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,738,491. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.09. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $50.00 and a fifty-two week high of $83.32. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $69.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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

Fortive declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to buyback 15,630,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Fortive news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 428,585 shares in the company, valued at $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 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. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Fortive by 57.0% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 9,645 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in Fortive during the 1st quarter worth about $1,101,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Fortive by 3.2% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 435,938 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,902,000 after purchasing an additional 13,526 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 90.8% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 29,126 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,131,000 after buying an additional 13,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 1st quarter worth about $16,058,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

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.