Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys 23,193 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 506.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,773 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,193 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $377,000. Keystone Financial Group bought a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $219,000. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP raised its position in shares of Fortive by 58.6% in the 4th quarter. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP now owns 12,610 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 4,657 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 20,608 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 7,191 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $58,829,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $66.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.39 and a fifty-two week high of $83.66. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.18.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly 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 firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total value of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,283 shares in the company, valued at $1,941,425.85. This represents a 21.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 42,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,349,585.65. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last ninety days. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FTV shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.92.

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.