Utah Retirement Systems Trims Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Utah Retirement Systems lowered its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,483 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Fortive were worth $4,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 9.7% during 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 buying an additional 3,810,997 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 164.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,294,930 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $620,480,000 after acquiring an additional 103,015 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Fortive by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,904,282 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $594,108,000 after purchasing an additional 166,123 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $66.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.27, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $60.39 and a 1-year high of $83.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $71.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, 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 the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total value of $237,308.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,585.65. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Company 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.