Morgan Stanley Boosts Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Price Target to $58.00

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.84% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Fortive from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Fortive from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.23.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $55.33. 1,107,336 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,081,234. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.03 billion, a PE ratio of 32.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.03. Fortive has a fifty-two week low of $46.34 and a fifty-two week 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.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $0.90 earnings per share 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Fortive will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Fortive by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,811 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 6.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 246.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 98.3% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,259 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the period. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 3.8% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 52,052 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,713,000 after buying an additional 1,886 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.