Auto Owners Insurance Co Increases Stock Position in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 3,078.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 138,281 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 133,931 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co's holdings in Fortive were worth $10,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,811 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 184.1% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 51,916 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,894,000 after purchasing an additional 33,642 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 44.7% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 32,883 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 10,165 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,900,000. Finally, Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd now owns 67,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,025,000 after purchasing an additional 13,400 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 news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total transaction of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 51,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 428,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This trade represents a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen lowered Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $85.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.36.

Fortive Trading Up 0.9%

Fortive stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $51.51. The company had a trading volume of 2,936,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,114,754. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $63.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.68. The stock has a market cap of $17.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Fortive Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.66 and a 1-year high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase 15,630,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.