Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin Sells 32,085 Shares

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Fortive Trading Down 2.4 %

FTV traded down $1.87 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.13. 2,638,271 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,087,649. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.15. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.79 and a 200 day moving average of $76.65.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Fortive during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Fortive by 186.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.64.

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.