Sone Capital Management LLC Invests $11.78 Million in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Sone Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 157,085 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,781,000. Fortive makes up about 1.5% of Sone Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Fortive by 229.6% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Fortive in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 432,712 shares of company stock worth $33,237,008. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.92.

Fortive Trading Up 1.1%

FTV opened at $73.26 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $69.77 and a 200 day moving average of $74.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $60.39 and a 12 month high of $83.32. The firm has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.04%.

Fortive Company 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.