Jonathan L. Schwarz Sells 14,223 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Stock

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at $5,030,281.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $73.72. 1,511,544 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,848,129. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $63.05 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.36. The stock has a market cap of $25.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on FTV. Raymond James upgraded Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Fortive from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wolfe Research cut Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Fortive from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price target on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.23.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Fortive by 70.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 896,550 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,058,000 after purchasing an additional 369,351 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Fortive by 104.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 369,076 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,748,000 after purchasing an additional 188,415 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Fortive by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 577,159 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,496,000 after purchasing an additional 13,251 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Fortive by 599.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,546 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,520,000 after purchasing an additional 45,032 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Fortive by 6.7% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 275,489 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,719,000 after purchasing an additional 17,225 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.