Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 199 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,856 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 199 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 61,103.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,600,591 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $231,338,000 after buying an additional 3,594,708 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth $193,761,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortive by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,557,116 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,288,355,000 after buying an additional 989,883 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Fortive by 136.0% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,215,152 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $82,839,000 after acquiring an additional 700,298 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Fortive by 493.0% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 653,500 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,987,000 after acquiring an additional 543,300 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total value of $739,036.98. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,689,743.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total transaction of $739,036.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,689,743.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,676,445. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock worth $5,475,122. 0.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FTV. Vertical Research lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.54.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV stock opened at $80.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $62.70 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The company has a market cap of $28.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $84.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.95.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 14.27%. Fortive’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

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.