Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Position Increased by Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,338 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,965 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.'s holdings in Fortive were worth $3,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 197.0% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,264 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 10,125 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,052,000 after buying an additional 10,795 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Fortive by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 37,502 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,832,000 after buying an additional 7,829 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 worth $118,292,000 after buying an additional 303,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $358,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total transaction of $519,115.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,941,425.85. The trade was a 21.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,795,793.32. The trade was a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on FTV. Citigroup decreased their target price on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.92.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV traded up $1.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $67.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,828,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,374,092. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.68. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.39 and a fifty-two week high of $83.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's payout ratio is 13.56%.

About Fortive

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.