FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Raises Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 9.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,800 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Fortive were worth $1,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Fortive by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,092,535 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,415,902,000 after buying an additional 181,948 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its position in shares of Fortive by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 11,107,878 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $817,873,000 after buying an additional 512,414 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortive by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,577,474 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $557,929,000 after buying an additional 878,523 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Fortive by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,847,724 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $430,568,000 after buying an additional 33,990 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $268,686,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $72.04. The company had a trading volume of 565,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,649,094. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $63.05 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $25.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $75.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.21.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Fortive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.69.

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.