Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 16,523 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,344 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 16,523 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $5,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $22,412,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in Fortive by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 13,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Fortive by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 101,745 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,631,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $5,847,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its position in Fortive by 84.8% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 852 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total transaction of $237,308.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,349,585.65. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last three months. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fortive Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of FTV opened at $76.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.76. The firm has a market cap of $26.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.15.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research 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, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.64.

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.