Third Point LLC Makes New Investment in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Third Point LLC bought a new position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,900,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $142,500,000. Fortive accounts for about 1.9% of Third Point LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Third Point LLC owned approximately 0.55% of Fortive as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total transaction of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,941,425.85. The trade was a 21.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FTV shares. BNP Paribas cut shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.92.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV opened at $69.67 on Thursday. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $60.39 and a twelve month high of $83.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.52, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $71.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.35.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.56%.

About Fortive

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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