Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New $5.24 Million Investment in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 69,835 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,238,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Fortive by 186.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its position in Fortive by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total value of $237,308.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,349,585.65. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $73.83 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.81 and a 200 day moving average of $76.85. The company has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 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 quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.