Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Buys 4,705 Shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) by 12.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,207 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,705 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $3,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in Fortive by 60.0% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 239,735 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,544,000 after purchasing an additional 89,891 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in Fortive in the first quarter worth approximately $738,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $17,750,000. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Fortive during the 1st quarter valued at $352,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth $22,412,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 428,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,029,554. The trade was a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total transaction of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,290. This trade represents a 21.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FTV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $87.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.08.

Fortive Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $53.30 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $18.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $69.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.25. Fortive Corporation has a 12-month low of $50.00 and a 12-month high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 12.90%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to buyback 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.