Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Lowers Stock Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 729,573 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 40,858 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.21% of Fortive worth $54,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 229.6% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FTV shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Fortive from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas downgraded Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.85.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total value of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,290. The trade was a 21.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were 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 $3,349,585.65. The trade was a 6.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 257,712 shares of company stock worth $20,567,008. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of Fortive stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $72.32. 913,193 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,467,879. The company has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.88. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. The business's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.04%.

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.