Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. Reduces Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,991 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in Fortive by 71.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Fortive by 186.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the third quarter valued at $41,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group began coverage on Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.45.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This trade represents a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $79.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.81.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

About Fortive

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.