King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 10,175 Shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its holdings in Fortive Corporation by 1.7%, selling 10,175 shares, and now owns 0.17% of the company valued at $42 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Fortive, with Price T Rowe Associates raising its investment by 164.5% to over $654 million.
• Fortive's stock recently saw a decline, with a quarterly earnings report indicating earnings per share of $0.58, missing estimates, alongside a share repurchase program authorized for 15.6 million shares.

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its position in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 574,452 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 10,175 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned 0.17% of Fortive worth $42,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Dodge & Cox bought a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at $583,493,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in 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 valued at $654,763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,429,566 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 96.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,626,962 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $411,781,000 after buying an additional 2,764,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Third Point LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at about $142,500,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the business's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the business's 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 directly owned 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,290. This represents a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Melius Research raised Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Fortive from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.86.

Fortive Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $47.11 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $58.86 and its 200 day moving average is $68.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.08. Fortive Corporation has a 1 year low of $46.35 and a 1 year high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 11.96%. The business's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that permits the company to repurchase 15,630,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication 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.

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