Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Reduces Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 798,807 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 955 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $63,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Waverton Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,170,000. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth $281,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter worth $341,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.6% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,591 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 197,895 shares of company stock worth $14,261,051. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

Fortive stock opened at $75.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $66.15 and a 52-week high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $26.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $75.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.18.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 12.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FTV. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Mizuho raised Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.82.

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.