Olstein Capital Management L.P. Buys 29,441 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 58.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,500 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 29,441 shares during the quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $6,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Fortive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Fortive by 71.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $74.09. The stock had a trading volume of 142,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,925,864. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.27. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.88 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,030,281.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of Fortive 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,030,281.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,895 shares of company stock worth $13,878,151. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.