Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,510,000 shares, an increase 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 currently 1.4 days.

Fortive Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE FTV traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $75.00. 1,227,969 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,038,416. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year high of $87.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.52. The company 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.

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Fortive's payout ratio is 12.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho raised shares of Fortive from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, September 6th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTV. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the second quarter worth $30,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $97,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Fortive by 9.4% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 59,340 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,397,000 after acquiring an additional 5,114 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 200.0% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,086 shares of the technology company's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Fortive by 2.5% in the second quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 163,782 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,136,000 after acquiring an additional 3,949 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.