Guinness Asset Management LTD Purchases 225 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,041 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Fortive were worth $528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Fortive in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in Fortive by 71.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Fortive by 186.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This trade 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.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $79.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $76.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.82. The stock has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $66.15 and a 52-week high of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on FTV shares. StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.45.

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.