Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on FTV. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Fortive from $83.00 to $77.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Fortive from $84.00 to $75.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Fortive from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Fortive from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $86.23.

Fortive Price Performance

Fortive stock opened at $70.67 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.96. Fortive has a 12 month low of $63.05 and a 12 month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Fortive had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $268,686,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 47.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,244,117 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $537,119,000 after buying an additional 1,999,792 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 19.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,463,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $554,253,000 after buying an additional 1,045,245 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,577,474 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $557,929,000 after buying an additional 878,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortive by 15,382.4% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 634,778 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,739,000 after acquiring an additional 630,678 shares in the last quarter. 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.