Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Purchased by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 190,659 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,415 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Fortive were worth $14,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $412,445,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $136,794,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,695,319 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $127,149,000 after purchasing an additional 374,837 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,785,483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $137,036,000 after purchasing an additional 326,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,289 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $118,292,000 after purchasing an additional 303,788 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FTV. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. The trade was a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total value of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,283 shares in the company, valued at $1,941,425.85. This trade represents a 21.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $64.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $63.26 and a 1 year high of $84.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.84.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Fortive 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.