BNP Paribas Downgrades Fortive (NYSE:FTV) to Neutral

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) was downgraded by equities research analysts at BNP Paribas from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $67.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. BNP Paribas’ price objective points to a potential upside of 5.21% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on FTV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.33.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV opened at $63.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive has a 1 year low of $60.39 and a 1 year high of $84.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.49 and a 200-day moving average of $76.37.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. The trade was a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. The trade was a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dodge & Cox acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $583,493,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $412,445,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Fortive by 164.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,730,161 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $654,763,000 after buying an additional 5,429,566 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,947,135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,221,036,000 after buying an additional 3,810,997 shares during the period. Finally, Third Point LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $142,500,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Company Profile

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.