Deutsche Bank AG Increases Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,472,623 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 275,790 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.42% of Fortive worth $110,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Fortive by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company's stock worth $32,052,000 after purchasing an additional 10,795 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in Fortive by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 75,186 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,639,000 after purchasing an additional 3,818 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Fortive by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA increased its position in shares of Fortive by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA now owns 60,543 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Finally, Benson Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV traded down $0.04 on Tuesday, reaching $73.70. 3,206,544 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,467,656. 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 has a market cap of $25.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $69.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.89. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $60.39 and a twelve month high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. Fortive's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.08 dividend. 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, May 30th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FTV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas cut shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total value of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,290. This trade represents a 21.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total transaction of $237,308.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,349,585.65. This represents a 6.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 257,712 shares of company stock valued at $20,567,008. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

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.