Welch & Forbes LLC Reduces Stake in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its holdings in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) by 19.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,340 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 14,354 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $3,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FTV. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 7.2% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 6,515 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortive by 25.1% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 30,157 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 6,056 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in Fortive by 8.8% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 6,298 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Fortive by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,401 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,167,000 after purchasing an additional 7,021 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 386,836 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,166,000 after buying an additional 17,191 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Fortive in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Fortive to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Melius Research upgraded Fortive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Fortive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.79.

Fortive Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of FTV stock opened at $50.34 on Monday. Fortive Corporation has a 1-year low of $46.34 and a 1-year high of $83.32. The company has a market cap of $15.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.97.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 9th. The technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter. Fortive had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 12.04%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 13.71%.

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.