The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 142,197 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,501,266 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 142,197 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.43% of Fortive worth $112,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fortive in the third quarter valued at approximately $12,031,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the third quarter valued at approximately $456,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 5.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 16,513 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 829 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the third quarter valued at approximately $854,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,052,000 after buying an additional 10,795 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $68.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.43. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $60.39 and a one year high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FTV shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total transaction of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,283 shares in the company, valued at $1,941,425.85. The trade was a 21.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total value of $237,308.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,349,585.65. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 in the last three months. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.