Insider Selling: Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) CFO Sells 32,085 Shares of Stock

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $77.13 on Wednesday. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.68, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $78.84 and a 200-day moving average of $76.70. 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 issued its 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 net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FTV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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. StockNews.com cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.64.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortive

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,947,135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,221,036,000 after purchasing an additional 3,810,997 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its stake in Fortive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 11,903,240 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $892,743,000 after purchasing an additional 137,479 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Fortive by 164.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,730,161 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $654,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,429,566 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,294,930 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $620,480,000 after acquiring an additional 103,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position 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 worth $634,701,000 after acquiring an additional 977,428 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.