Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Stake Cut by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lowered its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 27.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,566 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 12,094 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 1,162.8% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 543 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $73.60 on Friday. 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 fifty day simple moving average is $75.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.96. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $63.05 and a one year high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $25.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.13.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued 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. Fortive had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. On average, analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is 12.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Fortive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Fortive from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven 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 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.