Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 729,573 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 40,858 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Fortive were worth $54,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,554 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Fortive by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. increased its holdings in Fortive by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 2,696 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas downgraded Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total value of $237,308.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,349,585.65. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at $42,509,043.38. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $70.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $70.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.91. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $23.94 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $60.39 and a 52-week high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.04%.

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.