Schubert & Co Cuts Stock Holdings in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Schubert & Co lowered its holdings in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) by 71.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,183 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 12,972 shares during the quarter. Schubert & Co’s holdings in Fortive were worth $379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Fortive by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,947,135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,221,036,000 after purchasing an additional 3,810,997 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Fortive by 164.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,730,161 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $654,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,429,566 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,294,930 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $620,480,000 after purchasing an additional 103,015 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at $583,493,000. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,297,573 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $322,318,000 after acquiring an additional 720,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Up 0.9%

FTV stock opened at $51.51 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $63.33 and a 200 day moving average of $70.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Fortive Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.66 and a 52 week high of $83.32.

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

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to buyback 15,630,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortive news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of Fortive 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Melius lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $62.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Melius Research upgraded shares of Fortive to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.36.

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.