EP Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $976,000 Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 12,364 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $976,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Fortive in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive during the second quarter worth $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortive by 71.0% in the 3rd 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. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.29. 1,373,023 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,000,283. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The company has a market cap of $27.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.14. The company's 50 day moving average price is $76.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,058,503.21. This trade represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,895 shares of company stock worth $14,261,051 in the last ninety days. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FTV shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Fortive from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho raised shares of Fortive from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.73.

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.