Continental Investors Services Inc. Takes Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Continental Investors Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV – Get Rating) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,706 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,031 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 6,371 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,006 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in Fortive by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 977 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kinneret Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 8,323 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fortive from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Fortive in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on Fortive from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Fortive from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Fortive from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $141,666.21. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,100.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.75, for a total transaction of $220,119.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,216,847.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $141,666.21. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,100.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,648 shares of company stock worth $450,483 in the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $63.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $67.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.03. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $52.47 and a 12 month high of $69.78.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The technology company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 12.96%. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 23rd. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.33%.

Fortive Company Profile

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Fortive Corp. engages in the design, development, manufacturing, and marketing of professional and engineered products, software, and services for a variety of end markets. It operates through the following segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions.