Select Equity Group L.P. Increases Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 6.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,641,314 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 168,368 shares during the quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. owned approximately 0.75% of Fortive worth $195,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Fortive by 78.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 853,187 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,221,000 after acquiring an additional 373,957 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter worth $1,845,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 1,053.5% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 382,707 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,359,000 after purchasing an additional 349,530 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the second quarter valued at $711,000. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. raised its stake in Fortive by 31.2% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 162,049 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after buying an additional 38,517 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FTV shares. Wolfe Research cut Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.38.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $78.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.23. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.05 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.02. The company has a market capitalization of $27.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.11.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 14.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at $5,433,135.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.