Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 388,779 Shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Fortive by selling 388,779 shares, now holding approximately 38.57 million shares, valued at nearly $2.82 billion, representing 11.35% ownership.
• Insider selling included CEO James A. Lico offloading 175,000 shares for $12.67 million, reducing his ownership by 28.99% to around 428,585 shares.
• Fortive's Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program allowing for the repurchase of up to 15.63 million outstanding shares, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,574,528 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 388,779 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.35% of Fortive worth $2,822,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Fortive by 11.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,793 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its position in 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 lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 5,963 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,542,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 89,891 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Down 0.7%

Fortive stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.11. The stock had a trading volume of 3,774,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,350,171. The company has a market capitalization of $15.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.31. Fortive Corporation has a one year low of $46.35 and a one year high of $83.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 13.62%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 27th that permits the company to repurchase 15,630,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FTV. Melius Research upgraded shares of Fortive to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.86.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total value of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 51,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,823,290. This represents a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

About Fortive

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.