Holocene Advisors LP Raises Stock Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 1,014.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 841,671 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Fortive were worth $72,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 15.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 395,488 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,216,000 after buying an additional 51,690 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 4.8% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,932 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 599.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,546 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,520,000 after buying an additional 45,032 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 8.8% in the second quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 98,487 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,298,000 after buying an additional 7,936 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortive by 111.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 541 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. This trade represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,895 shares of company stock valued at $14,261,051 in the last quarter. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $78.96 on Tuesday. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $27.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $76.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.22.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. Fortive’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on FTV shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $92.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.82.

Fortive Company 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.