Essex Financial Services Inc. Grows Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 18.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,171 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 46,704 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Fortive by 13.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 14,635.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 3.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,964,789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $155,081,000 after purchasing an additional 24,539 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group started coverage on Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.64.

Fortive Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $81.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.57. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $66.15 and a 52-week high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $28.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.54, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.15.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.75%.

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.