Avantra Family Wealth Inc. Acquires Shares of 4,811 Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Avantra Family Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,811 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 114.2% during the 1st quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 377 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,585 shares in the company, valued at $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total value of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.62.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV opened at $69.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.99. Fortive Corporation has a 52-week low of $60.39 and a 52-week high of $83.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.11.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 12.90%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. Fortive’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to repurchase 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.04%.

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.