Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) CAO Sells $519,115.35 in Stock

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total value of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,941,425.85. This trade represents a 21.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Fortive Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Fortive stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $79.73. 4,220,681 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,534,107. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.15. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.40.

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on FTV shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.64.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 186.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.