HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,878 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FTV. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Fortive by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,410 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 43,593 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after buying an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 349.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 4,974 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,964,789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,081,000 after buying an additional 24,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 10,404 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Up 0.2 %

FTV stock opened at $74.84 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $87.10. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.65 and a 200-day moving average of $76.83.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Fortive news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. This trade represents a 10.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,509,043.38. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FTV. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.64.

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.