Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 3,617 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 73,458 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,617 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $5,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Fortive by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 1.7% in 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. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,591 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.64.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the business’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 value of $15,763,884.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % 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 32,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. The trade was a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 over the last quarter. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $73.87 on Thursday. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $87.10. 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 company has a market cap of $25.14 billion, a PE ratio of 31.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $78.91 and its 200 day moving average is $76.83.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

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