JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 374,837 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 28.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,695,319 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 374,837 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.49% of Fortive worth $127,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 186.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

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

Fortive Price Performance

NYSE FTV opened at $73.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $25.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $78.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.99. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $85.79.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on FTV shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. 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 note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.18.

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.