Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Short Interest Up 7.0% in December

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,510,000 shares, a growth of 7.0% from the November 30th total of 3,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,530,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FTV. Raymond James upgraded Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho raised Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,899 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC increased its position in Fortive by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 10,048 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,641 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of Fortive stock traded down $0.04 on Wednesday, reaching $75.00. 1,227,969 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,038,416. Fortive has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $26.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $75.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.52.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Fortive will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

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.