Insider Selling: Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) CFO Sells 32,085 Shares of Stock

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Fortive Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of FTV stock opened at $78.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $26.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.15. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.71.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Fortive in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on FTV. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.64.

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.