Fortive Corporation $FTV Shares Acquired by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. raised its stake in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) by 197.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,747 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,379 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FTV. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the first quarter valued at about $11,854,000. Sterling Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortive during the third quarter worth about $1,149,000. First Nebraska Trust Co bought a new stake in Fortive in the 1st quarter worth about $2,453,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth about $99,326,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new stake in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,212,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $67.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $20.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.03. Fortive Corporation has a 52 week low of $50.09 and a 52 week high of $68.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.14.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fortive Corporation will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is 13.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $75.00 target price on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Mizuho set a $55.00 target price on Fortive in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Fortive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price target (up from $63.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Fortive from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $64.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 48,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.60, for a total value of $3,129,353.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 79,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,111,022.80. This trade represents a 37.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Christopher Mulhall sold 17,962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total value of $1,177,588.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 44,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,844.88. This represents a 28.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 74,497 shares of company stock valued at $4,837,600. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fortive Company Profile

Fortive is a global technology company that develops products and software for industrial, infrastructure and healthcare customers. Its businesses focus on helping organizations improve the safety, reliability and efficiency of their operations. Fortive’s offerings include electronic test and measurement tools, industrial safety and gas-detection systems, and software for managing facilities, assets and construction projects. Its portfolio includes brands such as Fluke, Industrial Scientific, Gordian, Accruent and Provation.