HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,878 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 220 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.7% during the third quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 2,696 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,795,793.32. This represents a 10.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

Fortive stock opened at $74.84 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.83. The company has a market capitalization of $25.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FTV. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.64.

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.