Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) Shares Bought by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly increased its stake in Fortive Corporation by 4,854.2%, owning approximately 1.45 million shares valued at $106.2 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Fortive plans to buy back 15.63 million outstanding shares, indicating confidence from leadership about the company's stock valuation.
• Fortive's recent earnings report showed $1.47 billion in revenue for the quarter, slightly below analysts’ expectations, with an EPS of $0.85.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 4,854.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,451,325 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,422,030 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.43% of Fortive worth $106,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FTV. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 worth $3,221,036,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810,997 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Fortive by 164.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,730,161 shares of the technology company's stock worth $654,763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,429,566 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,294,930 shares of the technology company's stock worth $620,480,000 after acquiring an additional 103,015 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox acquired a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $583,493,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $412,445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Fortive news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 428,585 shares in the company, valued at $31,029,554. This trade represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 51,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,823,290. This trade represents a 21.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:FTV traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.67. 710,050 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,104,889. The firm has a market cap of $17.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.99. Fortive Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.66 and a 52-week high of $83.32. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $62.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.25.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 12.90%. The company's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to buyback 15,630,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FTV. Wall Street Zen raised Fortive to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Melius lowered Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho lowered their target price on Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.