National Pension Service Decreases Stock Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

National Pension Service decreased its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 456,506 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 20,112 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.13% of Fortive worth $34,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FTV. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,899 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Fortive by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in Fortive by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,591 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.64.

Fortive Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of FTV opened at $79.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.66 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.70 and a 200 day moving average of $76.48. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $66.15 and a 52-week high of $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 13.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortive news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at $42,509,043.38. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. The trade was a 10.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,298 shares of company stock worth $16,740,998 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.