Bank of Nova Scotia Buys 123,219 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 209.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 182,130 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,219 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Fortive were worth $13,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 186.8% in the 4th 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 acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its stake in Fortive by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total value of $237,308.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,349,585.65. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at $42,509,043.38. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Eight 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.33.

Fortive Stock Down 6.0 %

FTV opened at $63.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $60.39 and a one year high of $84.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $75.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.37.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 13.56%.

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.