Cannell & Spears LLC Sells 5,855 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Cannell & Spears LLC trimmed its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 462,349 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,855 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC owned 0.13% of Fortive worth $34,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in Fortive by 197.0% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 10,125 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,052,000 after buying an additional 10,795 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 37,502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,832,000 after buying an additional 7,829 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,346,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Fortive by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,289 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $118,292,000 after acquiring an additional 303,788 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FTV shares. StockNews.com cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total transaction of $237,308.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,349,585.65. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of FTV opened at $72.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $66.15 and a 52-week high of $85.93. The firm has a market cap of $24.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.35 and its 200-day moving average is $77.00.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued 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 return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.56%.

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.