Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $22.41 Million Investment in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 298,822 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,412,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $315,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972,855 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased 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 valued at $152,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,983 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 977,428 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,014.1% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,984,000 after acquiring an additional 841,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 59.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $107,271,000 after acquiring an additional 505,882 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,793.32. This trade represents a 10.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Trading Up 2.8 %

Fortive stock opened at $73.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.82. The firm has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FTV. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.64.

Fortive Company 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.