National Bank of Canada FI Grows Stock Position in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Key Points

• The National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Fortive Corporation by 14.4%, owning 218,054 shares worth $15.96 million after purchasing an additional 27,395 shares.
• Fortive reported a decline in quarterly revenue of 0.4% year-over-year with earnings per share of $0.58, missing the consensus estimate by $0.02.
• The company's board has authorized a stock repurchase program to buy back 15,630,000 outstanding shares, indicating confidence in the stock's value.

National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 218,054 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,395 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.06% of Fortive worth $15,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,793 shares of the technology company's stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 22,298 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,632,000 after buying an additional 4,978 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 51,343 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,757,000 after buying an additional 5,963 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 1st quarter worth about $3,542,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 60.0% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 239,735 shares of the technology company's stock worth $17,544,000 after buying an additional 89,891 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FTV shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. BNP Paribas reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.57.

Fortive Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE FTV traded up $0.31 on Friday, reaching $48.11. 5,626,771 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,537,815. Fortive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $46.34 and a fifty-two week high of $83.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.46 and a 200 day moving average of $67.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.08.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 13.62%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to buyback 15,630,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication 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.