NBW Capital LLC Lowers Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

NBW Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 50.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,425 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 40,335 shares during the quarter. NBW Capital LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Fortive in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $787,669.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,162,267. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total transaction of $739,036.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,689,743.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 9,106 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $787,669.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,162,267. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock valued at $5,475,122. Corporate insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $80.27. The stock had a trading volume of 547,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,594,703. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.52 and a 200-day moving average of $75.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a market capitalization of $28.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $62.70 and a 12-month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 13.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Fortive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.54.

Fortive Company 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.