ASB Consultores LLC Sells 709 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

ASB Consultores LLC lowered its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,943 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 709 shares during the quarter. ASB Consultores LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners increased its stake in Fortive by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,463,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $554,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045,245 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 47.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,244,117 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $537,119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,999,792 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Fortive by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,847,724 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $430,568,000 after purchasing an additional 33,990 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Fortive by 8.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,668,448 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $197,726,000 after purchasing an additional 205,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Fortive by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,565,443 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $190,099,000 after buying an additional 94,170 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FTV shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wolfe Research lowered Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Fortive from $84.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.23.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at $5,030,281.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $76.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $63.05 and a 12-month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 14.39%. Fortive’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.65%.

About Fortive

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.