Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Bought by Man Group plc

Man Group plc raised its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 292.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 69,906 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,082 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in Fortive were worth $5,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Fortive by 229.6% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total transaction of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,290. This represents a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,509,043.38. This trade represents a 27.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 432,712 shares of company stock valued at $33,237,008. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock 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. According to MarketBeat, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.92.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV opened at $71.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $24.43 billion, a PE ratio of 30.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $60.39 and a 1-year high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The company’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.