Boston Partners Raises Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,904,282 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 166,123 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Fortive were worth $594,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 186.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FTV shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.64.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $74.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.86. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.56%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,795,793.32. The trade was a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.