Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) Position Increased by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 236,354 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,885 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.07% of Fortive worth $16,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Fortive by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,793 shares of the technology company's stock worth $790,000 after buying an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Fortive by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 51,343 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,757,000 after buying an additional 5,963 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 22,298 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,632,000 after buying an additional 4,978 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new position in Fortive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,542,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in Fortive by 60.0% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 239,735 shares of the technology company's stock worth $17,544,000 after buying an additional 89,891 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FTV shares. Wall Street Zen raised Fortive to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. BNP Paribas reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total value of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 428,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV traded down $0.40 on Friday, reaching $52.66. 3,538,992 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,800,155. Fortive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.00 and a fifty-two week high of $83.32. The company's 50 day moving average is $67.62 and its 200-day moving average is $72.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to repurchase 15,630,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Fortive

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.