KBC Group NV Purchases 383 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 203,426 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Fortive were worth $15,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,191,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $644,346,000 after buying an additional 46,704 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $634,701,000 after purchasing an additional 977,428 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 14,635.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 3.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,444,205 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $271,851,000 after purchasing an additional 103,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,964,789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,081,000 after purchasing an additional 24,539 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,058,503.21. This trade represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.45.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE FTV opened at $80.37 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $77.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.13. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The company has a market cap of $27.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.75%.

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.