Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 59,956 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 260,013 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 59,956 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.07% of Fortive worth $19,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 186.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its holdings in Fortive by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.18.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of Fortive stock traded down $3.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $64.00. 4,863,448 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,277,389. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $63.26 and a 1 year high of $84.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.86. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $21.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's dividend 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.