Cypress Advisory Group LLC Makes New Investment in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Cypress Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 13,750 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,031,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the third quarter worth about $12,031,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive during the third quarter worth $456,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 16,513 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Fortive during the 3rd quarter worth about $854,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,052,000 after purchasing an additional 10,795 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $80.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total transaction of $237,308.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,585.65. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at $42,509,043.38. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $67.59. The stock had a trading volume of 5,613,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,408,498. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $60.39 and a 12-month high of $83.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.19.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. The company's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

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.