Strs Ohio Has $11.21 Million Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Strs Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 380.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 152,252 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 120,539 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Fortive were worth $11,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FTV. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Fortive by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,865 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,618 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,191 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Fortive by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,505 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Fortive by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Fortive stock opened at $80.20 on Thursday. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $62.70 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market cap of $28.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $84.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.95.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 14.27%. Fortive’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid 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 is Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $787,669.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 36,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,162,267. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Fortive news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $787,669.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 36,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,162,267. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total transaction of $739,036.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,689,743.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,937 shares of company stock worth $5,475,122 in the last ninety days. 0.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on FTV shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.54.

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.