Bank of New York Mellon Corp Cuts Holdings in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,085,837 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 122,609 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.61% of Fortive worth $152,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in Fortive by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,037 shares of the technology company's stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new position in Fortive during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,542,000. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortive during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,407,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in Fortive by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 48,040 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,792,000 after acquiring an additional 7,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 1st quarter valued at about $768,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was 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 owned 51,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 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. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fortive Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of FTV stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $52.88. The company had a trading volume of 3,077,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,770,648. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $17.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.63. Fortive Corporation has a 12 month low of $50.00 and a 12 month 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that permits the company to buyback 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.67.

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.