Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Trims Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 836,372 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,522 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.24% of Fortive worth $61,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,004,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,561,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 520,964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,359,000 after buying an additional 6,492 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 6,657 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 2,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 4,816 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Fortive in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.00 target price on the stock. Vertical Research downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.54.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $80.17 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $62.70 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.17 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s payout ratio is 13.11%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

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

About Fortive

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.