Visionary Horizons LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Visionary Horizons LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 91.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,360 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 3,994 shares during the quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Fortive in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Fortive by 229.6% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Fortive in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Fortive Price Performance

NYSE:FTV traded down $1.62 during trading hours 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 moving average is $69.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.31. The company has a market capitalization of $23.56 billion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $60.39 and a 52-week high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. Fortive's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

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

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

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.