Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive (NYSE:FTV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Fortive from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Fortive from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen raised Fortive from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Fortive from $84.00 to $75.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Fortive from $83.00 to $77.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $84.91.

Fortive Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:FTV opened at $67.66 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.12. Fortive has a 1-year low of $63.05 and a 1-year high of $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Fortive during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Fortive in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. 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.