Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Bought by Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA

Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA lifted its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,543 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the quarter. Fortive makes up approximately 2.2% of Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA’s holdings in Fortive were worth $4,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,191,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $644,346,000 after purchasing an additional 46,704 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Fortive by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $634,701,000 after acquiring an additional 977,428 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 14,635.7% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972,855 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 3.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,444,205 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $271,851,000 after acquiring an additional 103,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 8.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,668,448 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $197,726,000 after purchasing an additional 205,893 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction 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 owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $92.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.64.

Fortive Price Performance

Fortive stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $75.77. 1,407,061 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,124,018. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10. The company has a market capitalization of $26.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s payout ratio is 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.