California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 617,213 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,296 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Fortive worth $46,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 37,502 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,832,000 after purchasing an additional 7,829 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $358,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $17,750,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at $22,412,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $136,794,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company's stock.
Fortive Trading Down 1.3%
NYSE:FTV traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.17. 4,282,229 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,585,253. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.73, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.39 and a fifty-two week high of $83.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.
Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The company's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.
Fortive Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's payout ratio is 14.04%.
Fortive announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to buyback 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.92.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Fortive
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.
About Fortive
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Free Report)
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.
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