Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Lowers Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. trimmed its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 166,886 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,600 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $12,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Fortive by 2.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,557,116 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,288,355,000 after buying an additional 989,883 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Fortive by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,824,840 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,101,329,000 after purchasing an additional 282,248 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Fortive by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,092,535 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,415,902,000 after purchasing an additional 181,948 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its holdings in Fortive by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 10,595,464 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $785,760,000 after purchasing an additional 47,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Fortive by 2.0% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,298,958 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $496,474,000 after purchasing an additional 142,527 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total value of $739,036.98. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,689,743.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total value of $739,036.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,689,743.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $425,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,676,445. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock valued at $5,475,122 over the last 90 days. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $82.41 on Monday. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $62.70 and a 12-month high of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.82.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 14.27%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FTV shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Fortive from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Fortive from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.31.

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.