Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Stock Position in Roper Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ROP)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Roper Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) by 34.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,996,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,058,032 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 1.86% of Roper Technologies worth $1,037,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROP. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Roper Technologies by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,488 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $828,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Roper Technologies by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Roper Technologies by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Roper Technologies by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,039,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Roper Technologies during the third quarter valued at $2,769,000. 93.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Roper Technologies

In other news, VP Brandon L. Cross sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.83, for a total transaction of $433,372.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,329 shares in the company, valued at $767,936.07. This trade represents a 36.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard F. Wallman sold 351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.25, for a total transaction of $201,912.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,612,571.75. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,101 shares of company stock valued at $4,712,045. 0.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Roper Technologies Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Roper Technologies stock opened at $582.64 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $62.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.63, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.06. Roper Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $499.47 and a 52-week high of $595.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $570.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $553.74.

Roper Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Roper Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on ROP shares. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Roper Technologies in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $685.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Roper Technologies from $630.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Roper Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $535.00 to $615.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on Roper Technologies from $569.00 to $562.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Roper Technologies from $539.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $629.18.

About Roper Technologies

Roper Technologies, Inc designs and develops software, and technology enabled products and solutions. It operates through three segments: Application Software, Network Software, and Technology Enabled Products. The Application Software segment offers management, campus solutions, diagnostic and laboratory information management, enterprise software and information solutions, transportation management, financial and compliance management, and cloud-based financial analytics and performance management software; cloud-based software to the property and casualty insurance industry; and software, services, and technologies for foodservice operations.