BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys 123,972 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 30.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 534,124 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,972 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.15% of Fortive worth $42,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Fortive in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the second quarter worth about $31,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $79.40 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $66.15 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $27.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $76.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.25.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.75%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. This represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,895 shares of company stock worth $14,261,051. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on FTV shares. Mizuho raised Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.82.

Fortive 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.