Marshall Wace LLP Has $82.93 Million Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Marshall Wace LLP lessened its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 40.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,119,220 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 764,382 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.32% of Fortive worth $82,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 47.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,244,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $537,119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,999,792 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Fortive by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,463,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $554,253,000 after buying an additional 1,045,245 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $45,557,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Fortive by 70.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 896,550 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,058,000 after buying an additional 369,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,269,103 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $94,041,000 after purchasing an additional 273,168 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Performance

Fortive stock opened at $77.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.23. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.05 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $72.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.00. The stock has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.82 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, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 12.65%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on FTV. Wolfe Research cut Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Fortive from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price target for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.23.

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.