Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The technology company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04, reports. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 14.68%.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV stock traded down $0.24 on Friday, hitting $75.97. 1,918,843 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,709,118. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Fortive has a 12 month low of $62.77 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $26.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.83 and a 200 day moving average of $76.13.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FTV. Truist Financial began coverage on Fortive in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Vertical Research lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,676,445. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Fortive news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total value of $739,036.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,689,743.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,676,445. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 63,937 shares of company stock worth $5,475,122 in the last ninety days. 0.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 7.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,857 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 723.0% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,266 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 20,439 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 21.5% during the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,236 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 2.4% during the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 5.2% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,499 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.