Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Shares in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 298,822 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $22,412,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Fortive at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 11,903,240 shares of the technology company's stock worth $892,743,000 after acquiring an additional 137,479 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,294,930 shares of the technology company's stock worth $620,480,000 after purchasing an additional 103,015 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Fortive by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,904,282 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $594,108,000 after buying an additional 166,123 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at about $412,445,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,014,318 shares of the technology company's stock worth $151,074,000 after buying an additional 49,529 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $81.92.

Fortive Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Fortive stock traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $68.16. 455,665 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,369,255. The company has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.86 and a 200-day moving average of $75.62. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $60.39 and a 12 month high of $83.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. The trade was a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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. Insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Fortive 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.