Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 161,815 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 476,925 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 161,815 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Fortive were worth $37,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FTV. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Fortive by 3.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,899 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. RDA Financial Network boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 3.4% during the second quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 4,191 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 0.8% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,507 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 3.4% in the second quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 4,433 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.6% in the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 10,048 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE FTV opened at $79.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $27.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.25. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $87.10.

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.75%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at $5,030,281.80. This represents a 17.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 197,895 shares of company stock valued at $14,261,051 in the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.82.

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.