Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Trims Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI cut its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,042 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,030 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Fortive were worth $240,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 14,635.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,720,000 after buying an additional 3,972,855 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Fortive by 47.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,244,117 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $537,119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,999,792 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Fortive by 19.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,463,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $554,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,245 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 78.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 853,187 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,221,000 after purchasing an additional 373,957 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 1,053.5% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 382,707 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,359,000 after purchasing an additional 349,530 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. This represents a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,895 shares of company stock worth $14,261,051. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV stock opened at $78.42 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $66.15 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FTV shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho raised Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Raymond James raised Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.82.

Fortive Company 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.