Korea Investment CORP Sells 35,096 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 298,106 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 35,096 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Fortive were worth $22,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Fortive by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 11,627 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 3.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,444,205 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $271,851,000 after purchasing an additional 103,530 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Fortive by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 15,065 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in Fortive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 118.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 75,239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,939,000 after purchasing an additional 40,800 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $72.57 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.97. The company has a market cap of $24.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $85.93.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.