Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Position Boosted by Select Equity Group L.P.

Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 20.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,297,573 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 720,250 shares during the period. Fortive comprises approximately 1.3% of Select Equity Group L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Select Equity Group L.P. owned 1.24% of Fortive worth $322,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Fortive by 229.6% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.92.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $70.15. The stock had a trading volume of 920,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,896,465. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $23.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $69.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.85. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $60.38 and a 52 week high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Fortive's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is 14.04%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,029,554. This trade represents a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65% 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 in the last quarter. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.