Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA Raises Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,543 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the quarter. Fortive accounts for about 2.2% of Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA’s holdings in Fortive were worth $4,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FTV. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Fortive by 15.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 395,488 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,216,000 after buying an additional 51,690 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortive by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,932 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 197.0% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 10,125 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Fortive by 2.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,052,000 after purchasing an additional 10,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Fortive in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,346,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.64.

Fortive Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Fortive stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $75.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,407,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,124,018. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $76.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.67. The firm has a market cap of $26.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.