Select Equity Group L.P. Buys 720,250 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,297,573 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 720,250 shares during the quarter. Fortive makes up about 1.3% of Select Equity Group L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Select Equity Group L.P. owned 1.24% of Fortive worth $322,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FTV shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.92.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,606,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,516,189. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $60.39 and a 12-month high of $83.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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 for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 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 (DPR) is presently 14.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,795,793.32. This represents a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 432,712 shares of company stock valued at $33,237,008. 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.