Brighton Jones LLC Grows Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 97.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,706 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,811 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 73.4% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 13,565 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 5,741 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Fortive by 1,177.2% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 121,479 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,002,000 after purchasing an additional 111,968 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 0.7% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 31,577 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,340,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in shares of 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. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,053.5% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 382,707 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,359,000 after buying an additional 349,530 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $80.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $27.95 billion, a PE ratio of 32.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.09.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FTV shares. StockNews.com raised Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.