Taurus Asset Management LLC Sells 155,400 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Taurus Asset Management LLC cut its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 97.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,525 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 155,400 shares during the quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the second quarter worth about $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the second quarter worth about $31,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $74.82 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $25.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.13. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.53 and its 200 day moving average is $74.16.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. The trade was a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 197,895 shares of company stock worth $14,261,051. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $92.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho upgraded Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.82.

Fortive 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.