Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Cuts Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. cut its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 87.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,672 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 33,259 shares during the quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,463,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $554,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,245 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Fortive by 47.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,244,117 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $537,119,000 after buying an additional 1,999,792 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Fortive by 8.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,668,448 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $197,726,000 after buying an additional 205,893 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in Fortive by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,641,314 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,721,000 after acquiring an additional 168,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,565,443 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $190,099,000 after acquiring an additional 94,170 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Mizuho raised shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Fortive from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.36.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $75.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.89. The stock has a market cap of $26.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.12. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $63.05 and a one year high of $87.10.

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.65%.

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.