OFI Invest Asset Management Invests $17.75 Million in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 245,071 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,750,000. OFI Invest Asset Management owned 0.07% of Fortive as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Fortive by 186.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Fortive news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total transaction of $519,115.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,283 shares in the company, valued at $1,941,425.85. This trade represents a 21.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last three months. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $76.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $78.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.80. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $66.15 and a 52 week high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FTV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.64.

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.