Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,963,307 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 125,283 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Fortive worth $2,922,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FTV. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Fortive by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Fortive by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive by 1.7% in the third 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. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Fortive by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 2,696 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. This trade represents a 10.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,509,043.38. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV opened at $75.96 on Wednesday. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year high of $86.21. The company has a market capitalization 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FTV. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.64.

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.