MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Increases Stock Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,731 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,839 shares during the quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Fortive by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,191,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $644,346,000 after buying an additional 46,704 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 13.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $634,701,000 after purchasing an additional 977,428 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 14,635.7% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972,855 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Fortive by 3.1% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 6.8% in 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 buying an additional 168,368 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $79.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.84. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during 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%. Fortive’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.