Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC Sells 13,501 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC decreased its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 271,981 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 13,501 shares during the period. Fortive accounts for about 1.4% of Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Fortive worth $20,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 37,731 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,830,000 after buying an additional 3,839 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 7,041 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,011 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,823 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA increased its holdings in Fortive by 28.6% during 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 during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.45.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $79.00 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 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 $87.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.68 and its 200 day moving average is $74.84. The company has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive 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.