PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 156,705 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,382 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $12,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Fortive during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $78.42 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.18. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $27.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.13.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. Fortive’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on FTV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James upgraded Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group started coverage on Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Mizuho upgraded Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. The trade was a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 197,895 shares of company stock valued at $14,261,051 over the last ninety days. 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.