Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 33,642 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 184.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 51,916 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 33,642 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Fortive were worth $3,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Fortive by 5.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 64,235 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,070,000 after buying an additional 3,295 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its position in Fortive by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 9,120 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $268,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Fortive by 51.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 476,925 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,772,000 after purchasing an additional 161,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 59.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $107,271,000 after purchasing an additional 505,882 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortive news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total transaction of $237,308.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,373 shares in the company, 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 have sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Fortive stock 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 firm has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.19, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.62 and a 200 day moving average 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 released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given 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, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on FTV. Barclays dropped their price target 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 target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.