Empirical Finance LLC Has $893,000 Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,905 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 14,635.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972,855 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,005.9% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $152,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761,983 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position 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 valued at $634,701,000 after purchasing an additional 977,428 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in Fortive by 1,014.1% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,984,000 after buying an additional 841,671 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Fortive by 59.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,271,000 after buying an additional 505,882 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Stock Up 1.8 %

Fortive stock opened at $80.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $77.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.40. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.64.

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.