Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Purchases Shares of 43,242 Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 43,242 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,243,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 64,235 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,070,000 after purchasing an additional 3,295 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $268,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Fortive by 51.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 476,925 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,772,000 after purchasing an additional 161,815 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Fortive by 59.3% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,271,000 after purchasing an additional 505,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $119,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Trading Down 1.1 %

Fortive stock opened at $75.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $25.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.85, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $86.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $78.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is 13.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 over the last three months. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FTV. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.18.

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.