GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 7,359.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 131,142 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 129,384 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $9,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FTV. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,810,997 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 11,903,240 shares of the technology company's stock worth $892,743,000 after purchasing an additional 137,479 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 164.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,730,161 shares of the technology company's stock worth $654,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,429,566 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,904,282 shares of the technology company's stock worth $594,108,000 after purchasing an additional 166,123 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $73.08 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $68.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $60.39 and a 52-week high of $83.32. The company has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.96, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.11.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,290. This represents a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 428,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,029,554. This trade represents a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FTV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Fortive in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.08.

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.

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