Metis Global Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,717 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,774 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 14,635.7% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $315,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972,855 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,005.9% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $152,899,000 after buying an additional 1,761,983 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $634,701,000 after buying an additional 977,428 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,014.1% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,984,000 after buying an additional 841,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 59.3% during 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 buying an additional 505,882 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. The trade was a 10.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,298 shares of company stock worth $16,740,998 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV opened at $79.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.53. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FTV. Truist Financial raised their price target on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group began coverage on Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.64.

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.