Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Acquired by Tritonpoint Wealth LLC

Tritonpoint Wealth LLC grew its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,208 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 106.0% in the first quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 11,078 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.7% in the first quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 997,413 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,991,000 after purchasing an additional 16,394 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the first quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Visionary Horizons LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 91.5% in the first quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC now owns 8,360 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,994 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the first quarter valued at approximately $189,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This trade represents a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total value of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,290. This trade represents a 21.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE FTV opened at $69.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.56 billion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $69.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.31. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $60.39 and a twelve month high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to buyback 15,630,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FTV shares. BNP Paribas lowered Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Fortive in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Fortive from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.62.

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.