Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Acquired by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 38.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,451 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,892 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $4,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the first quarter worth about $37,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 34.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 773 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.95% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of FTV stock opened at $79.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $27.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.12, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.92. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $57.43 and a 1-year high of $79.90.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 13.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Fortive from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. Argus lifted their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Fortive from $67.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Fortive from $63.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Fortive in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 16,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.66, for a total transaction of $1,296,397.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,319 shares in the company, valued at $7,767,114.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Fortive news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 4,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.85, for a total value of $361,195.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,812.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 16,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.66, for a total value of $1,296,397.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 101,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,767,114.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,404 shares of company stock worth $3,324,757. 0.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Fortive

Fortive Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and services professional and engineered products, software, and services worldwide. Intelligent Operating Solutions segment provides advanced instrumentation, software and services, which includes electrical test and measurement, facility and asset lifecycle software applications, and worker safety and compliance solutions for manufacturing, process industries, healthcare, utilities and power, communications and electronics, and other industries.