Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $65.00 and last traded at $65.66, with a volume of 6292 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $67.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.18.

Fortive Stock Down 4.1 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $77.72 and a 200 day moving average of $76.91. The company has a market capitalization of $22.08 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dodge & Cox bought a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at about $583,493,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $412,445,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Fortive by 164.5% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 5,429,566 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Fortive by 9.7% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 3,810,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Third Point LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth $142,500,000. Hedge funds and other 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.