Aureus Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Aureus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 20.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 475,417 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 81,663 shares during the quarter. Fortive comprises about 2.5% of Aureus Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Aureus Asset Management LLC owned 0.14% of Fortive worth $37,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Fortive in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the second quarter worth $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in Fortive by 71.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on FTV. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $89.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Fortive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research cut Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.82.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of Fortive 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. This trade represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 197,895 shares of company stock valued at $14,261,051. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV traded down $0.37 on Monday, hitting $78.96. 1,946,441 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,000,633. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $76.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $27.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Fortive's payout ratio is 12.75%.

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.