Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC trimmed its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,734 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 12,867 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $12,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 197.0% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 10,125 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fortive by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,052,000 after purchasing an additional 10,795 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Fortive by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 37,502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,832,000 after purchasing an additional 7,829 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the third quarter worth $1,346,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Fortive by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,289 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $118,292,000 after buying an additional 303,788 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,585.65. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FTV. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.18.

Fortive Stock Down 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $64.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.84. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $63.26 and a 52-week high of $84.96. The firm has a market cap of $21.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.56%.

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.