Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 197,636 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 113.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 372,034 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 197,636 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Fortive were worth $29,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FTV. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 11,627 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 1,293 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 534,124 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,158,000 after buying an additional 123,972 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter worth $119,000. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 59.3% during 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 during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research cut Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.82.

Fortive Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of FTV stock opened at $79.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $76.17 and a 200-day moving average of $74.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.75%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at $5,433,135.73. This represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $1,049,657.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,030,281.80. The trade was a 17.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 197,895 shares of company stock worth $14,261,051 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.