Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 7,381 Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,381 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,554 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company's stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 2,696 shares of the technology company's stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 432,712 shares of company stock valued at $33,237,008. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV stock traded up $0.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $73.26. 3,225,396 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,494,326. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $60.39 and a 52 week high of $83.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.92.

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.