Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 49,529 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,014,318 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 49,529 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.58% of Fortive worth $151,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in Fortive by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Fortive by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC grew its position in Fortive by 1.7% during the third quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Fortive by 1.6% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,591 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Fortive by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FTV shares. 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 target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.64.

Fortive Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $76.58 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10. The company has a market cap of $26.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.76.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In related news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,509,043.38. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,793.32. This represents a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 over the last three months. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.