Woodline Partners LP Increases Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 44.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,132,722 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 349,763 shares during the quarter. Fortive makes up 0.6% of Woodline Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Woodline Partners LP owned 0.33% of Fortive worth $84,954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Sone Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,781,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 286.8% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 63,876 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,791,000 after purchasing an additional 47,363 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 425.1% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 6,716 shares of the technology company's stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 5,437 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 186,113 shares of the technology company's stock worth $13,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,914 shares during the period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,297,573 shares of the technology company's stock worth $322,318,000 after purchasing an additional 720,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. This represents a 10.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 432,712 shares of company stock worth $33,237,008 over the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on FTV. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. 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. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.92.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.69. 3,464,227 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,541,438. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business's fifty day moving average is $69.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.84. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $60.39 and a one year high of $83.32. The stock has a market cap of $23.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Fortive's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.04%.

Fortive Company 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.