8,915 Shares in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) Bought by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 8,915 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $652,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Fortive by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,793 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $790,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 28.7% during the first 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 during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Fortive by 13.1% during the first 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 during the period. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in Fortive during the first quarter worth approximately $3,542,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in Fortive by 60.0% during the first 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 during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 428,585 shares in the company, valued at $31,029,554. This trade represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $51.51. 2,939,397 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,100,059. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Fortive Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.66 and a 12 month high of $83.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $63.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.50.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 12.90%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to buyback 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on FTV. Melius Research raised shares of Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Cowen downgraded Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $69.36.

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.