Defender Capital LLC. Grows Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Defender Capital LLC. increased its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 316,393 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 58,560 shares during the quarter. Fortive comprises approximately 8.7% of Defender Capital LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Defender Capital LLC.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $23,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 70,259 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,269,000 after purchasing an additional 3,846 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI raised its holdings in Fortive by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 28,863 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,165,000 after buying an additional 10,557 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in Fortive by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 2,696 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $383,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Fortive by 131.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,115 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortive Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:FTV opened at $80.66 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.16. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $27.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FTV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Citigroup cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.45.

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.