First Manhattan CO. LLC. Raises Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,391,075 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,742 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned approximately 0.40% of Fortive worth $104,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Fortive by 229.6% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE FTV traded up $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $70.45. 3,456,609 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,450,986. The business's fifty day moving average is $70.07 and its 200 day moving average is $74.91. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.39 and a fifty-two week high of $83.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,509,043.38. This represents a 27.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on FTV. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.85.

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.