Financial Counselors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 172,903 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,447 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $12,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Fortive by 186.8% during the 4th 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 purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on FTV shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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 lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.18.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $75.17 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $25.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $86.21.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s payout ratio is 13.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of Fortive 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,793.32. This trade represents a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.