Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 8.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,373 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 981 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Fortive were worth $819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FTV shares. Wolfe Research downgraded Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.82.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $74.82 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.16. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.13.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. The trade was a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,895 shares of company stock worth $14,261,051. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.