EP Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 12,364 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 395,488 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,216,000 after purchasing an additional 51,690 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fortive by 4.8% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,932 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 111.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 541 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter worth about $749,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Fortive by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 864,924 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,091,000 after acquiring an additional 30,234 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Down 0.2 %

FTV stock opened at $78.32 on Wednesday. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.20, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $76.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.30. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James raised shares of Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price objective for the company. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of Fortive 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. The trade was a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,895 shares of company stock worth $14,261,051 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Company 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.