Quest Partners LLC Grows Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 10.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,563 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,016 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the third quarter worth $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the first quarter worth $32,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the second quarter worth $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $74.82 on Monday. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $75.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.16. The company has a market cap of $25.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at $5,433,135.73. The trade was a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,058,503.21. This trade represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 197,895 shares of company stock valued at $14,261,051 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price target on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.82.

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.