Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Stake Boosted by Schroder Investment Management Group

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,819,690 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 152,315 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.52% of Fortive worth $136,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth $412,445,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,005.9% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $152,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,983 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Fortive by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $634,701,000 after purchasing an additional 977,428 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Fortive by 1,014.1% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,984,000 after purchasing an additional 841,671 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Fortive by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,695,319 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $127,149,000 after purchasing an additional 374,837 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of Fortive 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the company’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 owns 47,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. This trade represents a 10.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $72.57 on Monday. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $85.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $78.35 and its 200-day moving average is $77.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.18.

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.