Bath Savings Trust Co Sells 8,535 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Bath Savings Trust Co lessened its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 35.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,281 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 8,535 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co's holdings in Fortive were worth $1,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Fortive by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 2,811 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 131.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,115 shares of the technology company's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Fortive by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 70,259 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,269,000 after purchasing an additional 3,846 shares during the last quarter. Defender Capital LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 316,393 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $23,729,000 after acquiring an additional 58,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $215,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $70.29. 2,067,066 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,583,593. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company's fifty day moving average price is $69.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.67. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $60.39 and a 52-week high of $83.32.

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

Fortive announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to repurchase 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Fortive's payout ratio is presently 14.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total transaction of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on FTV. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Barclays reduced their target price on Fortive from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas downgraded Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.92.

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.