Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 8.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,668,448 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 205,893 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.76% of Fortive worth $197,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 70.1% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 896,550 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,058,000 after purchasing an additional 369,351 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Fortive by 104.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 369,076 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,748,000 after buying an additional 188,415 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Fortive by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 577,159 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,496,000 after buying an additional 13,251 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Fortive by 599.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,546 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,520,000 after buying an additional 45,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in Fortive by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 275,489 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,719,000 after buying an additional 17,225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:FTV opened at $77.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $72.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.29. The company has a market capitalization of $27.21 billion, a PE ratio of 30.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $63.05 and a 1-year high of $87.10.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.23.

Insider Activity at Fortive

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

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.