Quantessence Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Quantessence Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,837 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FTV. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fortive by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64,258 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,819,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Fortive by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 22,561 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,692,000 after buying an additional 8,660 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 91,824 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,887,000 after buying an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its holdings in Fortive by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 17,076 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,281,000 after buying an additional 1,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. boosted its position in Fortive by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 51,338 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,850,000 after buying an additional 3,965 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FTV. StockNews.com cut Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $81.92.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV traded up $0.03 on Friday, reaching $68.95. The company had a trading volume of 2,136,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,356,611. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $60.39 and a 1 year high of $83.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Fortive's payout ratio is 13.56%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. The trade was a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is owned by 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.