MQS Management LLC Invests $448,000 in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,681 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $76.19 on Thursday. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $87.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.30 and a 200-day moving average of $74.17. The company has a market capitalization of $26.43 billion, a PE ratio of 30.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. Fortive’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business 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 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 197,895 shares of company stock valued at $14,261,051. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research cut Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $92.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.82.

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.