Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft Purchases New Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,874 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 14,635.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,720,000 after buying an additional 3,972,855 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Fortive by 1,005.9% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,983 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 13.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $634,701,000 after purchasing an additional 977,428 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in Fortive by 1,014.1% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,984,000 after purchasing an additional 841,671 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 59.3% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,271,000 after purchasing an additional 505,882 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on FTV. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays cut their target price on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Down 0.4 %

FTV stock opened at $81.28 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $28.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 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 50 day moving average is $77.56 and its 200 day moving average is $75.25.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.75%.

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.