Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 38,963,307 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 125,283 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.23% of Fortive worth $2,922,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 64,235 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,070,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 9,120 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $268,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Fortive by 51.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 476,925 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,772,000 after buying an additional 161,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in 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 valued at $107,271,000 after buying an additional 505,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Fortive stock opened at $75.96 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $86.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $78.62 and its 200-day moving average is $76.96.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total value of $519,115.35. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,941,425.85. The trade was a 21.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 over the last quarter. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on FTV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.