Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 3,036 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 32,411 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,036 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Fortive by 229.6% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.92.

Fortive Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of FTV stock opened at $72.71 on Tuesday. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $60.39 and a 1 year high of $83.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.90. 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 company has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total value of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,941,425.85. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 432,712 shares of company stock valued at $33,237,008. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.