Drake & Associates LLC Raises Stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Drake & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 28.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,298 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,978 shares during the quarter. Drake & Associates LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $1,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortive by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,947,135 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,221,036,000 after purchasing an additional 3,810,997 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 164.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,730,161 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $654,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,429,566 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,294,930 shares of the technology company's stock worth $620,480,000 after purchasing an additional 103,015 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Fortive by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,904,282 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $594,108,000 after purchasing an additional 166,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dodge & Cox acquired a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $583,493,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 428,585 shares in the company, valued at $31,029,554. This trade represents a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 51,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,823,290. This represents a 21.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on FTV shares. BNP Paribas reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.08.

Fortive Price Performance

NYSE:FTV traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $52.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,942,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,742,452. 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 capitalization of $18.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.09. Fortive Corporation has a twelve month low of $50.00 and a twelve month high of $83.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.92.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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