Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by Argent Trust Co

Argent Trust Co cut its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,772 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Fortive were worth $958,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.33.

Fortive Stock Up 1.6 %

FTV stock opened at $64.81 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $60.39 and a one year high of $83.66. The firm has a market cap of $22.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $75.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.29. 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 (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. This represents a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.