21,200 Shares in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 21,200 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,561,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total value of $739,036.98. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,689,743.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total transaction of $739,036.98. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,689,743.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,937 shares of company stock valued at $5,475,122 over the last quarter. 0.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fortive Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $79.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $62.70 and a 52-week high of $87.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $84.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.02.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 14.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Fortive from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.54.

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.