Brown Advisory Inc. Has $316.17 Million Stock Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Brown Advisory Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 55.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,215,639 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 5,189,347 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 1.22% of Fortive worth $316,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Fortive by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 42,281 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Bearing Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,345,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Fortive by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 549,429 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $41,207,000 after purchasing an additional 15,305 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortive by 77.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 550,369 shares of the technology company's stock worth $41,278,000 after buying an additional 240,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its position in Fortive by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,957 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,997,000 after buying an additional 4,041 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total value of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,941,425.85. The trade was a 21.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FTV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas cut Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on Fortive from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.85.

Fortive Stock Up 1.2 %

FTV traded up $0.80 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.05. 4,049,630 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,429,842. The stock has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. 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 fifty-two week low of $60.39 and a fifty-two week high of $83.32. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $70.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.05.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

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.