abrdn plc Grows Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

abrdn plc raised its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 41.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 234,027 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,258 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Fortive were worth $17,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FTV. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive in the third quarter valued at $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Fortive during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Fortive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Seven 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.54.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $76.05 on Thursday. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $62.70 and a 52-week high of $87.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.13.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly 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. Fortive had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,676,445. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $787,669.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,162,267. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,676,445. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock worth $5,475,122. 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.