3,703 Shares in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Acquired by Net Worth Advisory Group

Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,703 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Fortive by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,554 shares of the technology company's stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in Fortive by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 13,628 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, RDA Financial Network grew its holdings in Fortive by 3.5% in the first quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 4,965 shares of the technology company's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

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

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV traded down $1.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,126,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,650,157. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $69.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.31. The firm has a market cap of $23.56 billion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.11. 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 one year low of $60.39 and a one year high of $83.32.

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

Fortive announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase 15,630,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Fortive in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.62.

Fortive 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.