Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,517 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,598 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Fortive were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Flossbach Von Storch SE grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 11,903,240 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $892,743,000 after buying an additional 137,479 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,191,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $644,346,000 after purchasing an additional 46,704 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Fortive by 13.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 977,428 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Fortive by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,904,282 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $594,108,000 after purchasing an additional 166,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive by 3.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,444,205 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $271,851,000 after purchasing an additional 103,530 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total transaction of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,941,425.85. This represents a 21.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total transaction of $237,308.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,349,585.65. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on FTV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.64.

Fortive Stock Up 0.2 %

FTV opened at $74.84 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $86.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.86. The company has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.56%.

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.