Wedmont Private Capital Raises Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,209 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Fortive were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 19.3% in 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 increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,999,792 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 8.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 205,893 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,641,314 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,721,000 after acquiring an additional 168,368 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings 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 valued at $190,099,000 after acquiring an additional 94,170 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Fortive

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 directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Fortive 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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at $5,433,135.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.36.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV opened at $78.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.05 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $27.47 billion, a PE ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.26.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. 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 was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.65%.

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.