Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by Hartford Financial Management Inc.

Hartford Financial Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,093 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 595 shares during the quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Fortive by 71.0% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 186.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

NYSE FTV opened at $81.65 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.33 billion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.45.

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.