Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) SVP Stacey A. Walker Sells 5,688 Shares

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Fortive Price Performance

Fortive stock opened at $79.73 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The company 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 (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FTV shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.64.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Fortive by 186.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.