BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 30.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 534,124 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,972 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Fortive were worth $42,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Fortive in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Fortive during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Fortive during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $79.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.17 and a 200 day moving average of $74.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 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) last posted its 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 return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FTV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James upgraded shares of Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.82.

Insider Activity

In other Fortive news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at $5,030,281.80. The trade was a 17.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. This trade represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 197,895 shares of company stock worth $14,261,051. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.