SouthState Corp Cuts Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

SouthState Corp cut its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,962 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 704 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Fortive were worth $1,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Fortive by 1.6% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,591 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 150,553 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,883,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $426,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Fortive by 7.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 51,118 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,035,000 after purchasing an additional 3,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 3.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,410 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on FTV. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $74.71 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.86. The company has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

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

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.