Aureus Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Aureus Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 20.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 475,417 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,663 shares during the quarter. Fortive makes up 2.5% of Aureus Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $37,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Fortive by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 395,488 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,216,000 after buying an additional 51,690 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Fortive by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,932 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 599.3% during 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. Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 98,487 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,298,000 after purchasing an additional 7,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 111.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 541 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on FTV shares. Mizuho raised shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Raymond James raised shares of Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. This trade represents a 17.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,895 shares of company stock valued at $14,261,051 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $79.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $27.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.13. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.22.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

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

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.