Pitcairn Co. Cuts Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Pitcairn Co. cut its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,290 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 463 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Fortive by 186.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total value of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,283 shares in the company, valued at $1,941,425.85. This represents a 21.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV opened at $64.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. 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 fifty-two week low of $63.26 and a fifty-two week high of $84.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $77.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.84.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.18.

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.