Ethic Inc. Sells 8,511 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Ethic Inc. lowered its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,727 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,511 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $4,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FTV. Dodge & Cox bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $583,493,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $412,445,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position 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 worth $654,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,429,566 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,810,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Third Point LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $142,500,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortive news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total transaction of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,941,425.85. The trade was a 21.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total transaction of $237,308.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,585.65. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 over the last ninety days. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV opened at $70.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $60.39 and a 1 year high of $83.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.91. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. Fortive’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.85.

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.