Ameriprise Financial Inc. Acquires 240,976 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 77.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 550,369 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 240,976 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.16% of Fortive worth $41,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FTV. Dodge & Cox bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at about $583,493,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at $412,445,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 164.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 9.7% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Third Point LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at $142,500,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE FTV traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $72.75. 888,929 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,867,960. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $24.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. The company's fifty day moving average is $69.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.86. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.38 and a fifty-two week high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. The company's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FTV. 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. 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 research note 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. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 21.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. The trade was a 29.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 257,712 shares of company stock valued at $20,567,008 in the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by 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.