Private Advisor Group LLC Invests $876,000 in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Key Points

• Private Advisor Group LLC has acquired a new position in Fortive Corporation, purchasing 11,966 shares valued at approximately $876,000 in the first quarter.
• The current consensus rating for Fortive stock is "Hold," with an average price target of $69.36, reflecting mixed reviews from various analysts adjusting their price targets.
• Fortive announced a stock repurchase program authorizing the buyback of 15,630,000 shares, indicating the board's belief that the stock may be undervalued.

Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,966 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $876,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Fortive by 11.1% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,793 shares of the technology company's stock worth $790,000 after buying an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 28.7% during the first quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 22,298 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,632,000 after purchasing an additional 4,978 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings 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 valued at $3,757,000 after buying an additional 5,963 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in Fortive during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,542,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in Fortive by 60.0% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 239,735 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $17,544,000 after buying an additional 89,891 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FTV shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $87.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.86.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV stock traded down $1.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $46.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,187,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,172,110. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.78. The company has a market cap of $15.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.98. Fortive Corporation has a twelve month low of $46.47 and a twelve month high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.02). Fortive had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 13.62%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 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. Insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

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.