Swiss National Bank Sells 35,700 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Swiss National Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,101,600 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 35,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.31% of Fortive worth $81,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 181,948 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its holdings in Fortive by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 11,107,878 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $817,873,000 after purchasing an additional 512,414 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Fortive by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,886,914 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,254,000 after purchasing an additional 85,560 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Fortive by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,294,446 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $244,316,000 after purchasing an additional 260,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Fortive by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,380,342 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $176,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,400 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortive news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,689,743.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,689,743.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,937 shares of company stock worth $5,475,122. Corporate insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $76.08 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $63.05 and a one year high of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.94 and its 200 day moving average is $76.15. The firm has a market cap of $26.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.15.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 14.68%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 12.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Fortive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Fortive from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Fortive in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.46.

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.