Janus Henderson Group PLC Cuts Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Janus Henderson Group PLC reduced its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,548,858 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 492,466 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 2.18% of Fortive worth $566,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FTV. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Fortive by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,947,135 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,221,036,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810,997 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 11,903,240 shares of the technology company's stock worth $892,743,000 after purchasing an additional 137,479 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 164.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,730,161 shares of the technology company's stock worth $654,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,429,566 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,294,930 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $620,480,000 after buying an additional 103,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in Fortive by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,904,282 shares of the technology company's stock worth $594,108,000 after buying an additional 166,123 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FTV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial cut their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Fortive from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.85.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. This represents 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 valued at $19,508,529. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $70.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $60.39 and a 1-year high of $83.32. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $70.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.91. 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 (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released 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. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Fortive's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FTV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.