Magnetar Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 38.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 61,826 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,316 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $4,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Fortive by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,463,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $554,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045,245 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Fortive by 47.1% during 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 buying an additional 1,999,792 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Fortive by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,847,724 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $430,568,000 after buying an additional 33,990 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Fortive by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,668,448 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $197,726,000 after purchasing an additional 205,893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Fortive by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,565,443 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $190,099,000 after purchasing an additional 94,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FTV shares. Barclays raised their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.23.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV opened at $76.34 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $63.05 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.12.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. Fortive had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Fortive’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.65%.

Insider Activity

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

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.