Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 27,211 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 44.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,454 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 27,211 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $412,445,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $136,794,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,695,319 shares of the technology company's stock worth $127,149,000 after buying an additional 374,837 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,785,483 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $137,036,000 after buying an additional 326,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Fortive by 23.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,509,043.38. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total value of $237,308.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,349,585.65. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $65.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,534,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,369,495. The company has a market cap of $22.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. 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 fifty day moving average of $74.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.94. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $60.39 and a 12-month high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company 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 0.49%. Fortive's payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on FTV. Citigroup cut their target price on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. 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. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.92.

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.