HB Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Key Points

• HB Wealth Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Fortive Corporation by 212.4% during the 1st quarter, bringing its total shares to 15,067, valued at over $1 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Cambridge Investment Research Advisors and Perpetual Ltd, also raised their positions in Fortive during the same quarter, indicating increased interest in the company.
• Fortive's stock has faced mixed ratings from analysts, with the consensus being a "hold" rating and a target price of $69.36, reflecting uncertainty in the stock's performance moving forward.

HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 212.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,067 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,244 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $1,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Fortive by 3.4% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 994,455 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $72,774,000 after acquiring an additional 32,712 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Fortive by 4,854.2% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,451,325 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $106,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422,030 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Fortive by 49.3% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 24,101 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 7,956 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in Fortive by 3,078.9% during the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 138,281 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,737,000 after purchasing an additional 133,931 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Fortive during the first quarter valued at about $652,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV traded down $1.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.59. The stock had a trading volume of 4,972,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,199,008. Fortive Corporation has a 1 year low of $46.47 and a 1 year high of $83.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business's 50 day moving average price is $61.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.78. The company has a market cap of $15.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.09.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.02). Fortive had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 11.96%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to repurchase 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 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 approximately $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Fortive from $86.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Fortive from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.86.

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.