Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Purchased by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,958,622 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 532,180 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.14% of Fortive worth $296,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 186.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Quarry LP increased its position in Fortive by 229.6% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 528,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. The trade was a 10.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $67.57. 2,611,973 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,411,423. The company has a market capitalization of $22.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a PEG 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 twelve month low of $60.39 and a twelve month high of $83.32. The business's 50-day moving average price is $71.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.17.

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on FTV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. BNP Paribas cut shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $80.83.

About Fortive

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.