Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Stock: Insider Peter Underwood Sells 48,442 Shares

Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) SVP Peter Underwood sold 48,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.60, for a total value of $3,129,353.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 79,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,111,022.80. This represents a 37.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $66.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $58.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Fortive Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.63 and a 1 year high of $67.63.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 14.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fortive Corporation will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Fortive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

More Fortive News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortive’s latest reported quarter beat expectations: adjusted earnings were $0.77 per share versus $0.70 expected, and revenue of $1.11 billion exceeded forecasts of $1.07 billion, rising 7.8% year over year. Fortive Q3 results presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Fluke, a Fortive business, introduced smaller, lighter acoustic imagers designed to speed inspections and help customers detect problems and avoid unplanned downtime. The launch adds to the product pipeline, though its near-term financial contribution is not clear. Fluke product announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed: Baird set a $75 price target, while Citigroup raised its target to $71 but kept a neutral rating, and Truist maintained a hold rating with a $65 target. Fortive analyst coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Senior Vice President Peter Underwood sold 48,442 shares for about $3.13 million, reducing his holdings by roughly 38%. Chief Accounting Officer Christopher Mulhall also reported sizable share sales. Insider selling can weigh on sentiment, although it does not by itself indicate a change in business outlook. Fortive insider transactions

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FTV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Fortive from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Fortive from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (up from $63.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Fortive from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Evercore began coverage on Fortive in a research note on Monday, September 28th. They set a “hold” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth $1,626,463,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new position in Fortive during the second quarter valued at $739,668,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in Fortive during the second quarter valued at about $527,526,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Fortive during the second quarter valued at about $211,807,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Fortive by 0.5% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,205,043 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $175,668,000 after buying an additional 15,711 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Company Profile

Fortive Corporation (NYSE: FTV) is a diversified industrial technology company that develops and provides products, software and services designed to improve the productivity, safety, reliability and efficiency of businesses and public-sector organizations. Its offerings support customers in industries including manufacturing, healthcare, utilities, transportation, commercial facilities and government.

The company’s portfolio includes electronic test and measurement equipment, calibration and asset-management solutions, workplace and facility-management software, engineering and infrastructure software, product identification and traceability systems, and healthcare technology.