Whittier Trust Co. Boosts Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 330,269 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,888 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. owned approximately 0.10% of Fortive worth $24,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.7% in the third quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 2,696 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. The trade was a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fortive Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $75.24 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $25.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FTV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.