Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 5,499,266 Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,499,266 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $412,445,000. Norges Bank owned 1.59% of Fortive as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FTV. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Fortive by 186.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $72.57 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $78.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $85.93. 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 quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 13.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FTV shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven investment 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,793.32. The trade was a 10.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.