ASB Consultores LLC Lowers Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

ASB Consultores LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,943 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 709 shares during the period. ASB Consultores LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,565,443 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $190,099,000 after buying an additional 94,170 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive by 6.6% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,967 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 59.5% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 36,706 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 13,699 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the second quarter valued at $1,830,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Fortive by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,044,293 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,379,000 after purchasing an additional 33,904 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of FTV stock opened at $76.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $63.05 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $72.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.23.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. Fortive’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on FTV shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com raised Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Fortive from $84.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, September 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.