Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,191,915 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 46,704 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.36% of Fortive worth $644,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 14,635.7% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $315,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972,855 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,005.9% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $152,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761,983 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $634,701,000 after purchasing an additional 977,428 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Fortive by 1,014.1% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company's stock worth $72,984,000 after buying an additional 841,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Fortive by 59.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company's stock worth $107,271,000 after buying an additional 505,882 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James raised shares of Fortive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Fortive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $89.00 price objective for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.73.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of Fortive stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $76.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,976,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,001,103. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $76.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.36. The company has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company 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 business's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Fortive's payout ratio is 12.75%.

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.