Metis Global Partners LLC Buys 8,453 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,943 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 8,453 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $2,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,463,772 shares of the technology company's stock worth $554,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,245 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 47.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,244,117 shares of the technology company's stock worth $537,119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,999,792 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,668,448 shares of the technology company's stock worth $197,726,000 after purchasing an additional 205,893 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,641,314 shares of the technology company's stock worth $195,721,000 after purchasing an additional 168,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,565,443 shares of the technology company's stock worth $190,099,000 after purchasing an additional 94,170 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of Fortive stock traded down $0.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $74.82. 3,440,691 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,976,071. The company has a market capitalization of $25.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $66.15 and a 52-week high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Fortive's payout ratio is 12.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded Fortive from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, September 6th. 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 research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fortive in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research lowered Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Fortive from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.82.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,030,281.80. This trade represents a 17.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 197,895 shares of company stock valued at $14,261,051. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

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.