Webster Bank N. A. Sells 173 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Webster Bank N. A. cut its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 6.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,523 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 173 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased 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. Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 11,903,240 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $892,743,000 after acquiring an additional 137,479 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $654,763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,429,566 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fortive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,294,930 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $620,480,000 after purchasing an additional 103,015 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Fortive by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,904,282 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $594,108,000 after purchasing an additional 166,123 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total value of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,290. This trade represents a 21.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $70.17 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $60.39 and a 12-month high of $83.32. The stock has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.02 and its 200-day moving average is $74.68.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. 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 prior year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to repurchase 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Fortive from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.92.

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.