Short Interest in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Increases By 17.2%

by · The Cerbat Gem

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV – Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, a growth of 17.2% from the September 15th total of 3,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,260,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Fortive Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:FTV traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, hitting $77.23. 1,303,819 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,847,781. The company has a market cap of $27.19 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 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 current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.15.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Fortive had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Fortive will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Fortive news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at $5,433,135.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Fortive by 70.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 896,550 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,058,000 after buying an additional 369,351 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 104.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 369,076 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,748,000 after purchasing an additional 188,415 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,932 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 599.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,546 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,520,000 after purchasing an additional 45,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Fortive by 6.7% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 275,489 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,719,000 after purchasing an additional 17,225 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTV has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.36.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Fortive

Fortive Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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