Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Acquired by Axa S.A.

Axa S.A. increased its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,957 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,041 shares during the period. Axa S.A.'s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dodge & Cox acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth about $583,493,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $412,445,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Fortive by 164.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,730,161 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $654,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,429,566 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Fortive by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,947,135 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,221,036,000 after purchasing an additional 3,810,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Third Point LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $142,500,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $68.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $60.39 and a 1 year high of $83.32. The company's fifty day moving average is $70.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.00.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side 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 $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's payout ratio is 14.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Fortive from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,793.32. This trade represents a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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