Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Trims Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lessened its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,580 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,172 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Fortive were worth $361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 19.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,463,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $554,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,245 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Fortive by 47.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,244,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $537,119,000 after buying an additional 1,999,792 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew 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 worth $315,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972,855 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Fortive by 8.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,668,448 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $197,726,000 after acquiring an additional 205,893 shares during the period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Fortive by 6.8% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,641,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $195,721,000 after acquiring an additional 168,368 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. This trade represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 197,895 shares of company stock valued at $14,261,051. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

NYSE FTV opened at $78.42 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.13.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Analysts forecast 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 $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $92.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, September 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.