JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 28.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,695,319 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 374,837 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $127,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its position in shares of Fortive by 28.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $73.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.99. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $85.79.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted 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 prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.56%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total transaction of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,941,425.85. This trade represents a 21.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on FTV. StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.18.

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.