Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 105.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,225 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,274 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $3,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortive in the second quarter valued at $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Fortive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in Fortive during the third quarter worth about $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Fortive from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Vertical Research lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.54.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE FTV opened at $80.20 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.95. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $62.70 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The company has a market capitalization of $28.18 billion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 14.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total value of $787,669.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,162,267. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $787,669.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,162,267. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 40,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.28, for a total value of $3,523,416.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 61,855 shares in the company, valued at $5,336,849.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,937 shares of company stock worth $5,475,122 in the last three months. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.