Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Purchases Shares of 5,104 Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,104 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flossbach Von Storch SE grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 137,479 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,191,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $644,346,000 after acquiring an additional 46,704 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $634,701,000 after acquiring an additional 977,428 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 14,635.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972,855 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,444,205 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $271,851,000 after purchasing an additional 103,530 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on FTV shares. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.64.

Fortive Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $74.91 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.85. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $87.10. 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 market capitalization of $25.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, 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 90 days, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.