Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) SVP Peter C. Underwood Sells 5,000 Shares

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $74.82 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $87.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.45 and a 200 day moving average of $74.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.13.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid 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, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FTV shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, September 6th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.82.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 13.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $634,701,000 after purchasing an additional 977,428 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,463,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $554,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045,245 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Fortive by 14,635.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $315,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972,855 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,444,205 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $271,851,000 after acquiring an additional 103,530 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Fortive by 8.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,668,448 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $197,726,000 after purchasing an additional 205,893 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.