Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,140 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 13,313 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $9,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 111.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,176,655 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $86,637,000 after acquiring an additional 620,866 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its position in Fortive by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 11,107,878 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $817,873,000 after acquiring an additional 512,414 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,410,427 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $103,850,000 after acquiring an additional 453,817 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,294,446 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $244,316,000 after purchasing an additional 260,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 96.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 372,472 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,622,000 after purchasing an additional 183,335 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FTV shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Fortive from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Fortive from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.46.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,017 shares in the company, valued at $4,676,445. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 40,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.28, for a total value of $3,523,416.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 61,855 shares in the company, valued at $5,336,849.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,676,445. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 63,937 shares of company stock valued at $5,475,122 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Up 0.0 %

Fortive stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,499,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,715,017. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.27. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $63.05 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.15.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 14.68%. Research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.65%.

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.