Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Sells 4,329 Shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lessened its position in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,157 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,329 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Fortive were worth $9,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Dodge & Cox bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $583,493,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Fortive by 164.5% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 5,429,566 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $3,221,036,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810,997 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC bought a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $142,500,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth about $136,794,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other Fortive 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 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 $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fortive to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Fortive from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays cut their target price on Fortive from $86.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $87.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.86.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $47.25 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.22. Fortive Corporation has a 52 week low of $46.35 and a 52 week high of $83.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.08.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 13.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.