First Nebraska Trust Co Makes New Investment in Fortive Corporation $FTV

First Nebraska Trust Co purchased a new stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 41,233 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,260,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Fortive by 86.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 467 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Main Street Group LTD bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 702 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on FTV. Robert W. Baird set a $75.00 price target on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Fortive from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Mizuho set a $55.00 price objective on Fortive in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Fortive from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter Underwood sold 48,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.60, for a total value of $3,129,353.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 79,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,111,022.80. This trade represents a 37.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,093 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.57, for a total value of $530,658.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 15,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,022,695.29. The trade was a 34.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 83,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,371,093. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Fortive stock opened at $66.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $19.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Fortive Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.63 and a 12 month high of $67.63.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a $0.07 dividend. This is a boost from Fortive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.33%.

More Fortive News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortive’s latest reported quarter beat expectations: adjusted earnings were $0.77 per share versus $0.70 expected, and revenue of $1.11 billion exceeded forecasts of $1.07 billion, rising 7.8% year over year. Fortive Q3 results presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Fluke, a Fortive business, introduced smaller, lighter acoustic imagers designed to speed inspections and help customers detect problems and avoid unplanned downtime. The launch adds to the product pipeline, though its near-term financial contribution is not clear. Fluke product announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed: Baird set a $75 price target, while Citigroup raised its target to $71 but kept a neutral rating, and Truist maintained a hold rating with a $65 target. Fortive analyst coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Senior Vice President Peter Underwood sold 48,442 shares for about $3.13 million, reducing his holdings by roughly 38%. Chief Accounting Officer Christopher Mulhall also reported sizable share sales. Insider selling can weigh on sentiment, although it does not by itself indicate a change in business outlook. Fortive insider transactions

Fortive Company Profile

Fortive Corporation (NYSE: FTV) is a diversified industrial technology company that develops and provides products, software and services designed to improve the productivity, safety, reliability and efficiency of businesses and public-sector organizations. Its offerings support customers in industries including manufacturing, healthcare, utilities, transportation, commercial facilities and government.

The company’s portfolio includes electronic test and measurement equipment, calibration and asset-management solutions, workplace and facility-management software, engineering and infrastructure software, product identification and traceability systems, and healthcare technology.