Brown Advisory Inc. Lowers Holdings in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Brown Advisory Inc. lowered its stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 92.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 301,789 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,913,850 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Fortive worth $22,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Fortive in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in Fortive by 114.2% in the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 377 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in Fortive by 229.6% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:FTV traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.66. 3,538,992 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,806,106. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.32 and a 200 day moving average of $72.17. Fortive Corporation has a twelve month low of $50.00 and a twelve month high of $83.32. The company has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 12.90%. 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 prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that permits the company to repurchase 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $87.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $73.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 428,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 directly owned 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,290. This represents a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

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.